IOWA, USA — As Iowans continue to try and protect our most vulnerable, handling COVID-19 outbreaks at long-term care facilities has been a big concern.
In late August, the federal government strengthened requirements for routine testing at long-term care facilties. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) also said if the facilities aren't able to keep up with testing or provide documentation that they're trying to get more tests, if they run out, they can be fined between $400 and $8,000.
More worriesome to the care facilities, was when Iowa Department of Public Health said they would not be able to assist with meeting the new CMS requirements.
In a statement last week, the Iowa Department of Public Health and the State Hygienic Laboratory said they would be overburdened if they took on the additional test load of processing tests.
In a statement last week, the Iowa Department of Public Health and the State Hygienic Laboratory said they would be overburdened if they took on the additional test load of processing tests.
The volume and frequency that will be generated by the new requirement for routine staff testing, in addition to the testing already occurring across the state, will exceed the current capacity of SHL. Therefore, SHL will be unable to provide and process routine tests for Iowa’s long-term care facility staff members for the purpose of complying with the CMS rule.
The state did say they can still assist if someone in the facility contracts the virus or is symptomatic, but some long-term care facilities worry that won't be enough.
A social worker at one Iowa long-term care facility, who wanted to remain anonymous, expressed her concerns to Local 5.
"We have to test each staff member and resident once per week. They want us to test at least three to seven days a week," she said.
She said they received a $94,000 federal stimulus package, but that will soon not be enough to cover the expense of their rapid testing, which is $33 per test.
"We are spending [approx.] $3500 a week on tests," she said. "That money drains down very fast. And once that money drains down, we are paying privately for all the tests, and still needing to test all residents and staff members."
Elaine Eshbaugh is a professor of gerentology, the scientific study of old age, at the University of Northern Iowa. She says the COVID-19 has cast a light on how little society views the value of lives of the elderly.
"A question I see people hitting on is whether or not it's okay to judge the worth of a person's life solely by their age," Eshbaugh said. "Some people in our society have made it very clear that they don't feel like the deaths of older adults or nursing home residents really matter."
This comes as the White House task force has found that Iowa now has the 7th-highest rate for new coronavirus cases in the U.S.
The task force also recommends Gov. Reynolds implement a statewide mask mandate, but Reynolds has been adamant about not going that direction.
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