Nursing Home Patients Take Backseat In Priorities For Iowa Legislators

Iowa Recent budget cuts imposed by Iowa’s Governor Terry Branstad have almost immediately cut the number of nursing home inspectors in the state by 25%.

Now, just 28 inspectors will be responsible for investigating patient complaints and facility compliance with federal and state regulations at the state’s 442 facilities.

Axing the ten nursing home inspectors will save the state and estimated $125,000 as the bulk of the inspectors salaries is derived from federal funding.

While there are other employees in the state’s Department of Inspection and Appeals that are technically licensed to conduct the work of the terminated employees, I find it unrealistic to expect the existing workload to be quickly spread to others without any detriment to the 30,000 Iowans currently living in nursing homes.

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http://medicom Dennis Mingus

Has anyone considered offering the blood relatives of the nursing home patient $30,000 to $35,000 a year to care for their own parents or grandparents? The money would allow them to hire help in caring for their elderly relative and an incentive to do it themselves. The government would save more than $30k per patient and therefore reduce the strain on the budget, while helping the general economy at the same time.

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