Des Moines, Iowa — The Iowa House has voted to set limits for the pay of temporary nursing staff working in Iowa hospitals and nursing homes.
A traveling nurse could be paid no more than 150 percent of the statewide average wage being paid to full-time healthcare staff who provide nursing services. The bill is a priority for House Republicans, who contend temp agencies are reaping too much of the extra money the legislature has provided nursing homes. Representative Timi Brown-Powers, a Democrat from Waterloo, is a therapist at Covenant Medical Center in Waterloo, She says the bill addresses a big budget problem for hospitals and nursing homes.
The bill passed on an 80-to-17 vote. Representative John Forbes, a Democrat from Urbandale who opposed the bill, says there appeared to be some price gouging going on as healthcare employment agencies responded to workforce vacancies during the pandemic.
None of the House Republicans outlined their reasons for voting for the pay caps during the six-minute-long debate of the bill, which now goes to the Senate for consideration.
