Iowa Governor Sells Out Nursing Home Residents For Campaign Cash
Iowa Governor Chet Culver has left his nursing home constituents virtually defenseless after signing a new bill into law that eliminates many fines against Iowa nursing homes when the facilities fail to meet minimum health and safety standards.
Dozens of fines are eliminated for violations that nursing homes themselves identify and correct without a complaint filing or state inspector discovering the problem. One of the biggest contributors to resident neglect in nursing home facilities is insufficient staffing. Sadly, this bill exempts this issue from fines. Other exempt violations include failure to meet resident nutritional needs, failure to provide adequate dental care, failure to have competent, licensed administrators or caregivers, and failure to have a qualified nurse on duty.
Additionally, in cases where fines can be imposed, if the facility does not appeal the state's findings, the penalty will be reduced by 35 percent. Culver spokesman, Phil Roeder, said the governor signed the bill into law believing "it will promote better care by encouraging nursing homes to develop pro-active quality assurance programs and allowing facilities to identify and correct problems right away."
Former state legislator John Tapscott said "the new law is an example of what the nursing home industry can buy with its campaign contributions. It only proves that our legislative leaders and governor are willing to sell out the most vulnerable of our citizens - the sick and elderly residing in nursing homes - for a few thousand campaign dollars."
The bill was supported by the Iowa Healthcare Association, which made 236 political contributions totaling almost $90,000. Since June 2006, Governor Culver's campaign committees have received approximately $21,350.
