Jon Tester

Chairman Tester led a bipartisan letter to CMS on this very issue, discouraging CMS from taking a one-size-fits-all approach.

I think I found a solution.

I think I found a solution.

Our goal is to actually have the Veteran-Directed Care rolled out to all facilities by the end of FY '24.

Thank you and Senator Murkowski for introducing the CHARGE Act, which would reinstate the waiver for bed-hold occupancy requirements.

Increasing staffing requirements at a time when we cannot find the people to fill open positions is a dangerous policy.

So for a number of reasons, in Montana, not having anything to do with CMS, we have, I think, lost 11 rest homes.

Chairman Tester led a bipartisan letter to CMS on this very issue, discouraging CMS from taking a one-size-fits-all approach.

It is obvious that we have more work to do to be able to meet that obligation, and I look forward to partnering with anybody who will partner with me and folks on this Committee to make sure that we meet that obligation.

Thank you and Senator Murkowski for introducing the CHARGE Act, which would reinstate the waiver for bed-hold occupancy requirements.

low Medicaid reimbursement rates often leave nursing homes with no choice but to close their doors.

The staffing ratio issue, which Senator Cassidy and Senator King and probably everybody around this table could talk about, from a CMS standpoint is a big issue, and I think I found a solution.

What happens with the others? Which is not what this Committee is supposed to be about, but the truth is we all have--there ought to be some notifications made by the rest home that talks about what the recourse is.

I think the point Senator King made, that closing down a rest home is not a higher outcome necessarily.

The President also advised the VA develop an information plan for VDC expansion by June '23.

I hope that when you are in the highest levels of the Pentagon, that you discuss this candidly.

We appreciate your work and making sure that our national defense is up to where it needs to be.

You are not immune from recruiting challenges that our active-duty military services face, nor are you immune from disruptive impacts of Government shutdowns, continuing resolutions.

The National Guard and Reserves have always done more with less, fewer full-time personnel, smaller budgets, older weapons systems and vehicles, and aging IT infrastructure and facilities.

I hope that when you are in the highest levels of the Pentagon, that you discuss this candidly.

Unfortunately, what we have found is some of the supply chain issues has delayed the delivery of some of those goods.

The National Guard and Reserves have always done more with less, fewer full-time personnel, smaller budgets, older weapons systems and vehicles, and aging IT infrastructure and facilities.

They may not have been born here, but they love this country as much as any of us who pledge allegiance to that flag.

100 percent correct.

It would misalign billions of dollars in resources in a manner inconsistent with evolving threats and the national security landscape.