It was Abraham Lincoln’s Secretary of War SIMON CAMERON who is credited with having defined an honest politician as one “who, when bought, stays bought.”
And it was Louisiana’s own Sen. JOHN BREAUX who told a reporter in 1981, “My vote can’t be bought, but it can be rented.”
Whether bought or rented, contributions to legislators by nursing home interests appear to have been sound investments when it shelled out a total of $27,250 to six state senators, members all of the Health and Welfare Committee, who obligingly voted down a BILL by fellow Sen. Conrad Appel of Metairie that would have given more home health services to the elderly as an alternative to nursing homes. Make that $35,250 if you count contributions to committee chairman Fred Mills who did not vote on the bill because of a conflict. He owns an interest in a Breaux Bridge nursing home and received $8,000 in contributions from the Louisiana Nursing Home PAC.
But the two members who voted in favor of Appel’s Senate Bill 357, Sens. Dan Claitor (R-Baton Rouge) and Ed Price (D-Gonzales) apparently didn’t stay bought—or rented—despite their having received $5,500 between them from the Louisiana Nursing Home PAC. They probably won’t be receiving any further contributions from the nursing home interests.
Appel may also be crossed off their list since he sponsored the bill despite having received $3,500 from the same PAC.
Mind you, the contributions looked up hurriedly by LouisianaVoice by no means constitute the total dished out by nursing home interests, particularly individual nursing homes and their operators. The only contributions searched were from the Louisiana Nursing Home PAC and Elton Beebe of Ridgeland, Mississippi, who operates a string of nursing homes in Louisiana.
The committee voted 6-2 to kill the bill despite the support of AARP lobbyist Andrew Muhl who apparently was no match for the Louisiana Nursing Home Association, which represents about 250 nursing homes in Louisiana—or its money.
Mills, while not voting, did not let his nursing home ownership deter him from speaking against Appel’s bill, calling managed care “too risky.”
Senators voting against the bill and their contributions from nursing home interests included:
- Yvonne Dorsey Colomb (D-Baton Rouge): $6,000;
- Norbert “Norby” Chabert (R-Houma): $6,250;
- Regina Barrow (D-Baton Rouge): $5,000;
- Gerald Boudreaux (D-Lafayette): $5,000;
- Dale Erdy (R-Livingston): $4,000;
- Jay Luneau (D-Alexandria): $1,000.
Voting no and their contributions:
- Dan Claitor (R-Baton Rouge): $4,000;
- Ed Price (D-Gonzales): $1,500.
Perhaps we misunderstood John Kennedy’s intent when he said, “Louisiana doesn’t have a revenue problem, it has a spending problem.”
Click on the link to see a partial list of NURSING HOME CONTRIBUTIONS to Louisiana’s elected officials since Jan. 1, 2011. Remember, this is just a partial list.
Louisiana Voice 
Look at the bills that are moving forward. Look at those that are not. Really, that’s about all you need to know because it is safe to assume money is the reason and that altruism runs a very slow second in almost every case – An exception might be Peacock’s bill creating a new retirement system for state employees participating in LASERS. V. J. Bella pushed for such legislation 30 years ago when he was a state representative. He must be gratified to see it is finally moving toward reality. There may have been lobbying for this by people outside government, but it was by organizations with much higher purposes than self-enrichment.
Interesting to see the number of Dems on our the committee looking out for the public’s interest on this vote. Statistics game shown home health care to be cheaper and more effective to the health of the elderly than being plunked into the horrendous states the Louisiana’s nursing homes are. Bravo to you spineless cowards who won’t stand up for our public. One thing this vote shows: while the letter behind their name might be R or D they’re all really members of the Green Party and I’m not talking about libertarians. So you hear me Cleo, I’m sorry, Yvonne?
Both the ADVOCATE and nola.com have done extensive reporting on how the nursing home “industry” has bought support from elected officials for keeping it’s profit margins up and expansion of options down via generous campaign contributions.
What happened this year has happened for decades. I can remember being shocked some 40 years ago to see that nursing home owners typically drove Mercedes cars and wore Rolex watches when they came to the capitol, flaunting their wealth as they lobbied the legislature to maintain their profit margins.
My mother spent her last 2 and 1/2 years at one of former House Speaker Jim Tucker’s Community Care Centers. She could not walk and required 24 hour a day care. For this and other reasons, that nursing home was the only real option for her. Though it was not the fanciest place in the world she got good care and she was happy to have it. It cost her over $120,000 of her savings (ultimately about $60,000 per year) and, had she lived long enough, all her assets would have gone to the home.
We tried it, but even when she had fewer mobility problems, in-home care did not work for my mother – it apparently does for many others and could save money for them and Medicaid while the managed care tax would generate additional badly-needed revenue for the state.
There is nothing wrong with making a profit, but should it come at the expense of the quality of care provided elderly people with nowhere else to go? How much profit is enough?