Iowa House backs pay caps for traveling nurses

Is this from public healthcare funds? Sounds like it, or else they wouldnt have the authority to do this in the first place. If it is, then this is precisely the sort of thing that people are demanding to be done when they beg the govt to lower the cost of healthcare.

Im with you, it should be free market and no govt interference, but that cats been out the bag for a long time. Nursing homes are seldom free market anymore, and typically are largely funded by the public in some way or another, and the govt has a right and a duty to regulate how those funds are spent.

This sort of thing is one of the many reasons I generally oppose publicly funded healthcare. HCPs turn it into a free money train, then govt cracks down and causes a shortage... predictable problems.

Sounds to me like 'Republicans' are trying to reduce public spending, and that pretty high on the list of things they get elected to do.

 

Screwed?

Has the 11 lowest per capita debt in the country (1/10th of Massachusetts):



Has the 9th lowest wealth inequality in the country:


Has 13th lowest unemployment rate in the country:


Has the 6th lowest murder rates in the country:


According to US News and World Report, Iowa is the 7th best state to live. It is also in the top 20 for education.


It is also one of the least diverse states in the nation. You would consider that a weakness, I would consider it the reason that Iowa is doing better than most of America.

Given that Iowa is "screwed", it would probably be a good idea for progressives to move away from it and never move there. The worst possible outcome would be for progressives to "fix" it. They "fixed" California.

Given that you consider Iowa "screwed", I can only assume that you believe public debt, wealth inequality, low educational achievement and high murder rates are beneficial objectives that states should strive to cultivate. Quite simply, your objectives are different than mine. I would prefer to live where the government is not looting out the citizens, governments are not spending beyond their means, communities are safe and students are motivated.

 

Traveling nurse's pay and perks has caused a lot of resentment from local nurses who are employed by hospitals.
Their housing stipends has added to the problem of a housing shortage since many homeowners have turned their rental properties into furnished short stays and get top dollar from the traveling nurses and ilk.

snip:

FREE PRIVATE HOUSING
As a travel nurse, your accommodations will be covered for you, or you can choose to receive a tax-free housing stipend. Accommodation needs may vary depending on if you are traveling alone or with family, so discuss what types of housing are covered with your recruiter. This is an amazing opportunity to explore the country while living rent-free and saving money at the same time.

GREAT PAY
Many nurses pursue travel nursing because they want to increase their earning potential. Travel nurse pay often far exceeds that of a staff nurse. Travelers benefit from exceptional salaries, reimbursements, and generous bonuses for contract completion or referrals.


https://www.hctravelnursing.com/blog/best-travel-nurse-benefits

 

I've read a couple of stories on this and hard to find the background of what type of government funding is being supplied to nursing homes and hospitals--but what I am getting---is that tax payer dollars are being used to pay traveling nurses an exorbitant pay while the nurses on the ground are being paid by the entities themselves are being paid much less. It seems to me that hospitals and nursing homes have "free money to spend" and the house doesn't like how it is being allocated. The fact that tax payer dollars are being used to pay these nurses spells out that this is not a "capitalism" scenario.

When you take government money there is a responsibility that goes with it. But I don't fully understand what this government money was supposed to pay or help with--and perhaps that should have been clearly spelled out before it was approved.

 

so that justifies stamping down the free market? setting max wages for jobs... do republicans support doing this for ceo's and exec's too?

 

It's not the free market when the entities are given tax payer dollars. A free market is based on perimeters set by the market alone.

 

so if a corp gets any tax pay dollars, we can set a max wage for ceo's and exec's, and you would support it?

 

If our government funded a private business, yes. And private citizens too. If a private citizen was given tax payer dollars to buy food...government could intrusively delegate what food that person could buy. Government is a steward of tax payer dollars.

 

yep, so if a corp accepts even a single dollar of taxpayer money, we cap the wages for the ceo's and exec... sounds good

and agree, we can control religious schools if they accept taxpayer funded vouchers

 

The tax payer vouchers are owned by the tax payer. It allows a tax payer a choice and allocated to the tax payer. Not the same thing.

And yeah...if government legislated a grant to a corporation...there are strings attached. That money must be spent according to what government intends. What examples do you have in mind?

 

nope, that is tax-payer money funding schools - that means gov can set max wages and control them per the right....

same with hospitals, but now you are saying it goes beyond the original conditions, allowing max wages to be set

 

Have you noticed every conservative policy of past 50 years crumbling down one by one.

The modern Republican don’t believe in free trade.

Modern Republican don’t believe in free market.

Modern Republican don’t believe smaller government.

Republican don’t believe in stronger US and strong US allies.

Republican don’t believe in NATO.

Conservative don’t believe in family value or character , oh they preached about “ character matters” past 50 years to all of us.

But they have an orange god who alone can fix everything.

 

No you are wrong. It's given to the parents. Not the schools. The parents must follow the perimeters set by government. Not the schools.

If government directly funded the school...like they do public colleges...then the perimeters of acceptance are contracted between schools and government.

 

That legislation does seem in conflict with their traditional stance of free market.

 

The Republican party has abandoned the Reagan philosophy and switched to a more populous reactionary party.

 

nope, you are wrong, it's given to the schools, it's taxpayer money

 

Everything I’ve read so far the politicians are claiming that travel nurses make more than “staff” nurses, and therefor could cause a shortage of nurses in the state when nurses”leave their jobs”.

Now name me ANY other industry that we legislate how much a specific occupation can make ? Why dont they cap pay on Dr’s ? Or better year, on Hospital administrators ?

FTR, I worked in heathcare for many years, and I can tell you, they’re are basically 2 companies in the Midwest that own almost every clinic, hospital or practice. Make no mistake, this is the beginning of these companies driving wages down to help their bottom line.

The main company, Unity Point paid their top 30 people this:

• $3,950,402: Kevin Vermeer, President, CEO (until 4/20)
• $3,398,648: Susan Thompson, SVP, INT and OPT (until 420), Interim Pres/CEO (from 4/20)
• $1,525,665: Art Nizza, EVP, COO
• $1,470,151: Pamela Delagardelle, President/CEO-WAT*
• $1,387,520: Denny Drake, SVP, Corporate Integrity, General Counsel
• $1,358,757: Michelle Niermann, President/CEO-CR*
• $1,146,385: Daniel Carpenter, SVP, CFO
• $1,124,212: David Williams, CEO, IPCMF/Home* (to 4/20); SVP, CH CLIN Off (from 5/20)
• $1,123,995: Sabra Rosener, VP Government Relations
• $ 992,270: Richard Seidler, Former Pres/CEO, QC (to 5/19)*
• $ 970,544: David Stark, President/CEO-DSM*
• $ 932,351: Emily Porter, SVP, Talent and Marketing Comm Officer
• $ 885,658: Susan Erikson, President/CEO-WI*
• $ 878,869: Keith Knepp, President/CEO-PM*
• $ 832,683: John Sheehan, SVP, Chief Admin Officer
• $ 697,248: Laura Smith, VP, CIO
• $ 696,920: Leah Glasgo, Interim Pres/CEO-FD, Interim Pres/CEO-SD (from 11/20)*
• $ 686,279: Robert Erickson, President/CEO-QC*
• $ 674,875: Marcel Devetten, VP, Medical Director Clinical Leaders
• $ 663,796: Mark Johnson, VP Supply Chain Management
• $ 650,552: Theodore Townsend, Former Pres/CEO-CR, Pres/CEO-DUB (to12/1*
• $ 619,610: Mary Osborn, VP Care Transformation
• $ 607,332: Renee Rasmussen, VP Revenue Cycle
• $ 576,597: Patricia Newland, VP, Medical Director-DSM, Interim Pres/CEO -IPCMF (from 6/20)*
• $ 572,103: Brian Jones, VP Payor Innovation
• $ 566,162: Kent Lehr, VP Strategy and Business Development
• $ 546,842: Wendy Mortimore, Chief Medical Info Officer
• $ 473,472: Kyle Christiason, Board Member*
• $ 466,377: Catherine Ranheim, Board Member*
• $ 442,766: Narendra Mansharamani, VP, Financial Operations
• $ 442,069: Debra King, Deputy General Counsel
• $ 437,521: Stanton Danielson, Board Member*
• $ 390,148: Matthew Kirschner, VP/Treasury
• $ 383,760: Aric Sharp, VP/ACO (to 2/19)

The 34 most highly compensated employees received $33 million in compensation in 2020

Now some please tell me again how these Nurses are the costs issue ?

 

There are some areas where cops make more than healthcare workers. I wonder how people would react if a cap was put on for law enforcement workers.

 

They act like the nurses set their own pay by controlling the board….and not market forces. They’re likely already paying as little as they have to.

 

Sounds like monopoly via regulatory capture. Something that wage caps will help reverse, btw, by allowing smaller companies to more easily compete (if they even want to try to break in to such a heavily regulated industry...). Its not how much nurses are allowed to make 'period', just how much nurses are allowed to make in the (publicly funded?) nursing homes, correct? A nurse could, in theory, go work at a fully private practice and make whatever the owner wants to pay them, as long as it not being publicly supported, right?

 

Ask republicans why they are against medicare negotiating costs with big pharma for rising drug costs. Gotta protect those CEO's. I mean, CEO's losing 10 million of their annual salary means they might have to buy a slightly smaller yacht. Cannot have that.

 

I reckon 'big pharma' being immune from the monetary damages caused by their vaccines would make it complicated, to say the least, to negotiate prices with them, given that the onus for the aforementioned immunity rests upon 'big pharma' having threatenned to stop producing any medicines they consider 'not profitable enough.'

 

No. This is directed at agencies that provide travel nurses. This is private enterprise.

 

Exactly. Somehow capping nurses pay to save a couple million is better than limiting Bob the CEO’s pay from $10M per year to $8M. We cant limit executive pay because…you know….capitalism!

 

No they are not struggling. They are being paid well because they are in high demand. They are in high demand because there is a shortage of nurses. Capping their salaries will exacerbate that shortage. I’m sure hospitals would rather pay out of the ass for traveling nurses if the alternative was having far fewer of them.

The solution isn’t to cap their salaries. It’s to enact laws that bring more nurses into the workforce. Perhaps we should subsidize nursing school tuition. I know you’ll call that another handout but it’s not the same as paying someone to go to college to major in music. Nurses provide a public benefit.