Bill Text: IA HF544 | 2013-2014 | 85th General Assembly | Enrolled

NOTE: There are more recent revisions of this legislation. Read Latest Draft

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Bill Title: A bill for an act relating to the Iowa veterans home and providing for the consideration of contributions to support as repayment receipts. (Formerly HSB 130) Effective 7-1-13.

Spectrum: Committee Bill

Status: (Passed) 2013-12-31 - END OF 2013 ACTIONS [HF544 Detail]

Download: Iowa-2013-HF544-Enrolled.html

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House File 544
AN ACT
RELATING TO THE IOWA VETERANS HOME AND PROVIDING FOR THE
CONSIDERATION OF CONTRIBUTIONS TO SUPPORT AS REPAYMENT
RECEIPTS.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF IOWA:
Section 1. Section 35D.1, subsection 1, Code 2013, is
amended to read as follows:
1. The Iowa veterans home, located in Marshalltown, shall
be maintained as a long-term health care facility providing
multiple nursing and residential levels of care , with attendant
health care services, for honorably discharged veterans and
their dependent spouses , and for surviving spouses of honorably
discharged veterans , and gold star parents . Eligibility
requirements for admission to the Iowa veterans home shall
coincide with the eligibility requirements for hospitalization
care and treatment in a United States department of veterans
affairs facility pursuant to 38 U.S.C. § 1710, and regulations
promulgated under that section, as amended. For the purposes
of this subsection, “gold star parent” means a parent of a
deceased member of the United States armed forces who died
while serving on active duty during a time of military conflict
or who died as a result of such service.
Sec. 2. Section 35D.2, subsection 1, Code 2013, is amended
to read as follows:
1. Persons described in section 35D.1 who do not have
sufficient means for their own support, or are disabled by
disease, wounds injury , or old age, or otherwise and meet
the qualifications for nursing or residential care , and are
unable to earn a livelihood, and who are residents of the
state of Iowa on the date of the application and immediately

House File 544, p. 2
preceding the date the application is accepted, may be admitted
to the home as members under rules adopted by the commission.
The commission shall adopt rules to emphasize the admission
of homeless honorably discharged veterans. Eligibility
determinations are subject to approval by the commandant.
Sec. 3. Section 35D.4, subsection 2, Code 2013, is amended
to read as follows:
2. The cottages may be made available to persons on the
staff of the home at a rental rate determined by the commission
commandant .
Sec. 4. Section 35D.5, Code 2013, is amended to read as
follows:
35D.5 Surviving spouses of veterans.
If a deceased veteran, who would be entitled to admission
to the home if the deceased veteran were living, has left a
surviving spouse, the spouse is entitled to admission to the
home with the same rights, privileges , and benefits as if the
veteran were living and a member of the home, if the spouse
was married to the veteran for at least one year immediately
prior to the veteran’s death, is found by the commandant to
be disabled, does not have sufficient means for support and
maintenance meets the qualifications for nursing or residential
level of care , and is a resident of the state of Iowa on the
date of the application and immediately preceding the date the
application is accepted.
Sec. 5. Section 35D.6, Code 2013, is amended to read as
follows:
35D.6 Certificate of eligibility.
Before admission, each applicant shall file with the
commandant an affidavit signed by two members of the commission
of veteran affairs of the county in which the person resides,
stating that the person to the best of their knowledge and
belief is a resident of that county and that the person is
unable to earn a livelihood and the person’s income , exclusive
of pension, compensation, war risk insurance payments, or
pensions or annuities under the Social Security Act and the
Railroad Retirement Acts , is less than is sufficient to provide
the type of health care necessary for the person’s welfare.
The affidavit is conclusive evidence of the residence of the
person but is prima facie only in all other matters affecting
the eligibility of the applicant and the liability of the
county with respect to the expense of the person for which the
county may be liable. All records of admission shall show the

House File 544, p. 3
residence of the applicant.
Sec. 6. Section 35D.7, Code 2013, is amended to read as
follows:
35D.7 Contributing to own support.
1. Except as otherwise provided in chapter 249A and other
provisions of this chapter , a member of the home who receives
a pension, compensation , or gratuity from the United States
government, or income from any source of more than twenty-five
one hundred forty dollars per month, shall contribute to the
member’s own maintenance or support while a member of the home.
The amount of the contribution and the method of collection
shall be determined by the director commandant , but the
amount shall in no case exceed the actual cost of keeping and
maintaining the person in the home.
2. Sums paid to and received by the commandant for the
support of members of the home shall be paid monthly by the
commandant to the treasurer of state and considered repayment
receipts as defined in section 8.2 and credited to the general
fund of the state Iowa veterans home account referred to in
section 35D.18, subsection 3 .
3. The commandant may require allow any member of the home
to render assistance in the care of the home and its grounds as
the member’s psychosocial and physical condition permit, as a
phase of that member’s rehabilitation program. The commandant
shall compensate each member who furnishes assistance at rates
established approved by the commission.
Sec. 7. Section 35D.10, Code 2013, is amended to read as
follows:
35D.10 Payment to dependents spouse .
Except as otherwise provided in chapter 249A and other
provisions of this chapter , a member of the home who receives
a pension or compensation and who has a child, as defined in
section 234.1 , or a spouse who is dependent upon employment or
others for support shall deposit with the commandant on receipt
of the member’s pension or compensation check one-half of its
amount, which shall be sent by the eighth day of the month or at
once if any such pension or compensation is received after the
eighth day of the month to the spouse or, if there is no spouse,
to the guardian of the child . The commandant, if satisfied
that the spouse has deserted the member of the home, may pay
the money deposited to the guardian of the child.
Sec. 8. Section 35D.11, subsection 1, Code 2013, is amended
to read as follows:

House File 544, p. 4
1. Pension money deposited with the commandant is not
assignable for any purpose except as provided in sections
section 35D.10 and 35D.16 , or in accordance with subsection 2
of this section .
Sec. 9. Section 35D.12, subsection 1, Code 2013, is amended
to read as follows:
1. a. The Iowa veterans home, for the convenience of its
members, may maintain a commercial account with a federally
insured bank for the individual personal deposits of its
members. The account shall be known as the Iowa veterans home
membership account. The commandant shall record each member’s
personal deposits individually and shall deposit the funds in
the membership account, where the members’ deposits shall be
held in the aggregate.
b. The Iowa veterans home may withdraw moneys from the
account maintained pursuant to this subsection to establish
certificates of deposit for the benefit of all members. The
commission shall adopt rules pursuant to chapter 17A for the
administration of this paragraph.
Sec. 10. Section 35D.13, subsection 2, Code 2013, is amended
to read as follows:
2. The commandant shall be a resident of the state of
Iowa who served in the armed forces of the United States
and was honorably discharged , and is a licensed nursing home
administrator .
Sec. 11. Section 35D.15, subsection 2, paragraph a,
subparagraph (3), Code 2013, is amended to read as follows:
(3) The member’s medical or life skills needs have been
met to the extent possible through the services provided by
the Iowa veterans home and the member no longer requires a
residential or nursing level of care, as determined by the
interdisciplinary resident care committee.
Sec. 12. Section 35D.15, subsection 2, paragraph g,
subparagraph (2), Code 2013, is amended to read as follows:
(2) “Interdisciplinary resident care committee” means the
member, a social worker, a registered nurse, a dietitian,
a medical provider, and a recreation specialist , and other
staff, as appropriate, who are involved in reviewing a member’s
assessment data and developing a collaborative care plan for
the individual member. For an individual member who is also a
patient, the interdisciplinary resident care committee shall
also include a mental health treatment staff member.
Sec. 13. Section 35D.18, subsection 2, Code 2013, is amended

House File 544, p. 5
to read as follows:
2. The net appropriation made to the Iowa veterans home may
be used throughout the fiscal year in the manner necessary for
purposes of cash flow management , and for cash flow management,
the . The Iowa veterans home may temporarily draw more than the
amount appropriated, provided the amount appropriated is not
exceeded at the close of the fiscal year.
Sec. 14. REPEAL. Sections 35D.8 and 35D.16, Code 2013, are
repealed.
______________________________
KRAIG PAULSEN
Speaker of the House
______________________________
PAM JOCHUM
President of the Senate
I hereby certify that this bill originated in the House and
is known as House File 544, Eighty-fifth General Assembly.
______________________________
CARMINE BOAL
Chief Clerk of the House
Approved _______________, 2013
______________________________
TERRY E. BRANSTAD
Governor