Nursing home legal fees drain Medicaid of Iowa

Regarding the June 26 article, “Iowa nursing homes reimbursed for legal fees when sued, cited”:

I know a guy who is blind and deaf, and he once had an insurance plan called Medicaid of Iowa. About a year ago, Medicaid of Iowa decided it was necessary to make it more difficult for Iowans who have disabilities that prevent them from obtaining basic health insurance through gainful employment. This blind guy was a victim of these changes and now has to rely on free medical clinics and emergency rooms for his medical care.

I think I know why this happened.

Some of your tax dollars that fund Medicaid of Iowa are used to pay for attorney fees. The tax dollars that fund the state Department of Inspections and Appeals (DIA) that investigates negligent care in Iowa nursing homes and imposes civil fines for negligence are from some of the same tax dollars that fund the nursing homes for attorney fees to defend the allegations as well as to pay civil fines imposed by the DIA.

We are not talking about simple parking violation fines; rather it is in the hundreds of thousand dollars.

How does this make nursing homes accountable? Medicaid rightfully pays for many in nursing homes.

But to also pay for nursing association dues, legal representation, whether negligent or not, and to also pay for appeals (and the attorneys again) is not what a health insurance plan for the disabled and poor is for.

That blind and deaf guy is me.

David L. Duffy

Iowa City