10.11.2023

Grassley Discusses Rural Health Care with Western Home Communities

BLACK HAWK COUNTY, IOWA – U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) yesterday held a question-and-answer session with employees at Western Home Communities, a senior care provider in Cedar Falls. Grassley and meeting attendees discussed federal policies and regulations affecting the long-term care community, as well as efforts to address staffing shortages and other rural health care challenges.

“I appreciated the opportunity to speak with Iowa’s health care professionals about the state of the industry and the unique challenges patients and providers in our rural communities face,” Grassley said. “Many thanks to the Western Home Communities team for hosting yesterday’s meeting. Hearing directly from the Iowans who are putting in the work, day in and day out, better equips me to legislate in a way that addresses their concerns in Washington.”

“Western Home Communities sincerely appreciates Senator Grassley's recent visit and discussion on federal matters concerning Iowans' access to essential care services across the care continuum,” said Kris Hansen, CEO, Western Home Communities. “His visit was timely, considering the recent release of CMS's proposed federal staffing mandate for nursing homes. If implemented as proposed, this mandate would significantly disrupt access to critical care, especially in our rural communities, threatening Iowans' ability to meet their fundamental long-term care needs. We thank Senator Grassley for his unwavering support in finding innovative solutions that enhance healthcare access for Iowans.”

Black Hawk County

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Grassley, a former chairman of the Senate Special Committee on Aging, has introduced several bills to improve seniors’ access to care and support rural health providers, including:

The CONNECT for Health Act to expand Medicare coverage of telehealth services;
The Pharmacy and Medically Underserved Areas Enhancement Act to empower local pharmacists to offer important health care services;
The Medicare Audiology Access Improvement Act to increase access to audiology services, building on the implementation of Grassley’s legislation to permit over-the-counter hearing aids sales; and
The Rural Hospital Support Act to protect access to rural health care.

Grassley has fought to ensure rural America gets its share of Medicare-funded graduate medical education residency positions. He has also called on the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services to shed much-needed sunlight on nursing home ownership structures.

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