T-R FILE PHOTO A “No Smoking” sign directs Heinz Hall residents where smoking is allowed on the facility’s west side at the Iowa Veterans Home.

A bill calling for smoking to be allowed by all residents at the Iowa Veterans Home is being recommended by the Veterans Affairs subcommittee in the Iowa Senate.

Senate Study Bill 1080 passed the subcommittee with a 2-1 vote. Sen. Jeff Edler, R-State Center, serves on the subcommittee.

The bill states “The commission shall adopt rules relating to smoking applicable to members of the home.”

This would include making reasonable accommodations for smoking such as designated areas where residents can smoke.

Residents would be allowed to smoke only in those areas and under supervision when necessary. Residents deemed careless while smoking will be prohibited from smoking unless supervised. Smoking would not be allowed in residents’ rooms or anywhere oxygen machines and related materials are being used or stored.

Edler presented a petition with signatures from 100 people who are against the facility’s current smoking policies.

IVH allows residents who were admitted to its facility prior to January 2020, to smoke in designated areas with trained smoke room monitors, according to Commandant Timon Oujiri.

“Even with 100 signatures, if all signatures are residents, that equates to only 24 percent of our residents in support of that petition that affects only 9 percent of IVH residents,” Oujiri said.

According to the Surgeon General’s 2020 report on smoking cessation, tobacco use is still the number one cause of preventable disease, death and disability in the United States.

“Many of our residents with chronic medical conditions would have negative health consequences from smoking or secondhand smoking,” Oujiri said.

The 41 residents of IVH who are allowed to smoke average about 105 hours per week smoking. The cost of staff who spend time supervising residents while they smoke is about $158,700 annually.

The passing of the bill into law would not have a direct impact on federal funding, Oujiri said. Though it could negatively affect IVH’s ratings with the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, a governing body that regulates nursing homes. It could also affect IVH’s ability to host professional internships and nursing aide students.

If IVH’s ratings fell to the category of “Immediate Jeopardy,” it has a period of time to take corrective action or it risks losing Medicare and Medicaid funding. Immediate Jeopardy is when a health care provider is not meeting CMS requirements to the point where it is likely to cause injury, harm, impairment or death to a resident.

IVH was temporarily in Immediate Jeopardy status after an inspection by Veterans Administration officials in 2019. IVH was required to implement a new smoking policy which was approved by the VA. The VA’s guidelines on smoking apply to facilities nationwide.

In January 2020, the smoking policy was updated to follow CMS guidance.

“Studies have shown the harmful effects of smoking extend to co-workers and members of the public exposed to secondhand smoke,” Oujiri said. “These reports indicate there is no risk-free level of exposure to secondhand smoke. The Iowa Commission of Veterans Affairs does not support SSB 1080 along with other veterans organizations, American Lung Association, American Nonsmokers Rights Foundation, American Cancer Association, American Heart Association.”

The Veterans Affairs subcommittee continued its discussion on the bill in the Senate Chambers on Wednesday.

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Contact Joe Fisher at 641-753-6611 or jfisher@timesrepublican.com