Dear Friends,
Claire Celsi
(01:00) Iowa’s elder care crisis, with State Sen. Claire Celsi
(22:34) States shouldn’t wait on feds to fix health care, with Pat LaMarche
(39:22) Climate update:
— California flooding
— Iowa’s three-week winter
— A 62-mile curtain to stop glacial melt?
— Converting parking lots to food plots
(53:12) February garden Q & A, with Kathy Byrnes
I was introduced to the rampant negligence in our elder care “industry” in the early 1990s, during my first term as a State Representative. On walks home from the State Capitol, I’d make unannounced visits to one of the nursing homes in my legislative district. Some of the conditions I observed were nothing short of appalling.
Sadly, things have only gotten worse. The for-profit nursing homes have a powerful lobby, and it plays hardball through generous campaign contributions to key lawmakers, almost exclusively Republican.
A December 22, 2023 Iowa Capital Dispatch story by Clark Kaufmann lays out the nursing home money problem: The political action committee that represents Iowa’s nursing home industry had donated $30,000 to Reynolds’ 2022 reelection effort. David Chensvold, nursing home consultant and president of HealthCARE of Iowa, gave $20,000. Ted LeNeave, CEO of Accura Healthcare, gave $10,000, as did Lisa Toti, president of Accura Healthcare. Richard Allbee, CEO of the ABCM nursing home chain, gave $5,000, as did Douglas Johnson, CEO of Blue Stone Therapy.
Not every issue is this cut and dried. But when you follow the money, it’s clear that key Republican leaders are all kinds of cozy with the nursing home industry.
Check out my conversation with State Senator Claire Celsi. She’s leading the way at the Iowa Statehouse for meaningful change on elder care. Central to the list of urgent reforms is better pay for nursing home workers, among whom turnover is off the charts.
Pat LaMarche
Also joining me on this week’s program is Pat LaMarche. Pat and I discuss what individual states can do to move forward to reform our ailing health care system.
Beyond her depth of experience in health care, Pat’s history includes two campaigns for Governor of Maine and a run for vice president in 2004 under the Green Party banner.
Most interesting, to me, is this tidbit on Wikipedia: In 2011, Novelist Stephen King offered LaMarche “the opportunity to institute ‘a left-leaning’ talk show. With her co-presenter, Don Cookson, LaMarche appeared on the WZON show The Pulse five mornings each week. In November 2011, in order to raise matched funding on offer from Stephen King to provide winter heat for Mainers without, LaMarche announced her intention to spend a week living in a ‘Hobbit Hole’ outdoors, notwithstanding the bracing Maine fall conditions. She repeated the feat in 2012, garnering thousands of dollars in contributions.”
Good for Pat. And living in a Hobbit hole! Hopefully, it wasn’t infested with Dwarves.
Thanks for reading, listening, and taking action.
Ed Fallon
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Ed Fallon