The Iowa 2008 blog is a companion to AARP Iowa's Voices for the Future. Conversations reported here are the views of attendees and do not necessarily represent the views or policies of AARP. AARP is a nonprofit, nonpartisan membership organization that does not endorse any candidates nor make contributions to political parties or candidates.
Oelwein, Iowa
An engaged group participated in an afternoon conversation at the Oelwein Community Center.
There was strong agreement about the importance of the need for basic health care coverage for all Americans. There was also an emphasis on the importance of financial literacy in the schools and from parents beginning at a young age.
One nursing home administrator participant discussed how her non-profit nursing facility had recently gone bankrupt. She pointed to the cost of providing health insurance and a matching pension plan for her employees as the major factor for the financial ruin of her institution. Could this happen to other nursing facilities in small-town Iowa? What would happen to seniors that need the services that these facilities provide? What if they cannot find employees because they are not offering health insurance?
