Iowa Attorney General Brenna Byrd, Ohio Republican Sen. J.D. Vance (left), Alabama Republican Sen. Tommy Tuberville (second from left), and Representative Nicole Malliotakis (R.N.Y.). ), right, speaks with Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall at a press conference across from the Manhattan Criminal Courthouse in New York, Monday, May 13, 2024. (AP Photo/Stephen Jeremiah)
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Imagine you are looking for a nursing home to house a loved one. Many of us have actually been there, so there's no need to imagine.
you ask. The nursing home you are visiting says it will evaluate your loved one's needs and provide at least 3.48 hours of direct care each day. Additionally, a registered nurse is on-site 24 hours a day at the facility.
I feel safe having a nurse. Of course, you may want your family to receive as much care as possible, but closer to four hours each day seems reasonable.
These standards are included in new federal nursing home staffing requirements. And what you think is reasonable is that Group 20, which represents mostly red states and nursing home operators, thinks it's an existential upheaval that should be stopped. Iowa is one of the lead plaintiffs suing the federal government to prevent the standard from taking effect.
It turns out that Earth is threatened by extinction-level volcanic eruptions, meteorites hitting Earth, and raising minimum staffing rules for nursing homes, but not necessarily in that order.
If you're having trouble reading this, Iowa Attorney General Brenna Byrd will gaslight you.
“Our seniors have invested their entire lives in their communities,” Byrd said in a statement. “Right now, we need to invest in them by making sure they get the care they need. We're calling for a halt to the Biden-Harris attack on senior care that would completely take away access to seniors.
Discontinuing a set of rules that require more consideration all goes toward helping older people. Understood.
I understand that this rule, if implemented over the next two to three years, will cost carriers across the country billions of dollars. There is an exemption system for local facilities facing labor shortages. Still, Iowa and other states insist they close some facilities.
But you must wonder why you're in this business if you can't provide the right people.
“If you're going to be a nursing home, you should have nurses to take care of my loved ones that you're going to put into your facility,” U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra told USA . today. “We insist that the care you provide must be of high quality.”
But in Iowa, where a Republican Party now redder than a bed sore rules the Golden Dome of Wisdom, the nursing home industry is rarely, if ever, questioned. Iowa has the sixth-worst record for staffing violations in the state, said Clark Kaufman of the Iowa Capital Dispatch Office. This is a contributing factor to the tragic events that make headlines.
So what did our Congress do? It's in the middle of nowhere. Republicans even refused to convene a government oversight committee to discuss the issue.
The Republican answer to the staffing issue in Congress was to propose capping the wages that facilities pay temporary nurses hired to fill vacancies. We could see the lips of Republicans explaining the bill, but the voice we heard was the voice of the nursing home industry. The bill was not passed.
Is there anything we can do about the low salaries of facility staff? no.
Substantive reform has stalled. The House won't even take up a bill that would allow families to install cameras in residents' rooms to monitor their care.
On a completely unrelated note, Iowa House Speaker Pat Grassley received $55,000 in campaign contributions from the Iowa Health PAC between January 2023 and July of this year. PAC is the political arm of the Iowa Healthcare Association, which represents nursing homes and other long-term care providers.
And these are just the latest industry gifts dropped into Grassley's stocking. He was a good kid all year long. The PAC makes active contributions to state legislators and Governor Kim Reynolds each year.
In a state where one in five Iowans is over the age of 65, it's strange that Republicans would ignore this issue. And these Iowans will vote.
But it's no surprise that Mr. Byrd is at the top of the case.
She became a voice for trucking companies against California's law requiring electric vehicles by 2036. The law also includes higher fuel efficiency standards.
She attacked water quality regulations and opened numerous wetlands across the country to development. Of course, the Supreme Court struck down this rule.
Byrd filed a brief defending an Arkansas law that targets educational content that “inculcates ideology into students.” “Critical Race Theory” makes the list again.
Supporters say the law doesn't make it illegal to discuss the topic, but it does prohibit schools from forcing children to affirm that it's true.
Byrd warned drug retailers across the country about mailing abortion pills after more than a year of refusing to pay for emergency contraception to rape victims. After an “audit” she allowed the reimbursement to continue.
When Byrd wasn't providing legal services to trucking companies, environmental polluters, and indoctrination fantasies in Arkansas, she found time to attend Donald Trump's trial on 34 felony counts of falsifying business records. She sat behind Dear Leader, mocking New York prosecutors.
The latest Iowa poll shows her with a 39% approval rating.
She is currently suing to halt new nursing home staffing requirements that could improve the health of Iowans and save lives. How far can she go?
But Bird insists it's all about making sure seniors “have access to the care they need.” Apparently, even if it's substandard. It's all Biden-Harris' fault. The only surprise was that she didn't condemn illegal immigration.
Hey, are the lights dimmed in here?
(319) 298-8262; todd.dorman@thegazette.com
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