Taking Staffing Mandates Off My To-Do List (because the system is screwed)

You know that feeling when you dive headfirst into something because it seems obvious, like it’s the right thing to do? That was me with healthcare reform. Specifically, staffing mandates in long-term care. I thought: better rules = better care = easier life for patients and caregivers. Sounds simple, right? Wrong.

But here’s what I found when I followed the money and I tracked the lawmakers. I saw who gets what from the healthcare industry and suddenly that bright, hopeful mission turned into a messy tangle of donations, lobbyists, exemptions, and political games. Turns out, the people writing the rules are also taking serious cash from the very industry they’re supposed to regulate. Surprise, surprise.

And then there’s the bill itself. On paper, it promises minimum staffing, 24/7 RNs, protections for residents. But in reality? Huge costs. Rural facilities that can’t hire enough staff. Exemptions that swallow up most of the rules. The “big beautiful bill” starts looking like a giant mirage. The rule that would have forced better staffing got delayed. Not “we’ll fix it later” delayed, but legally delayed until around 2034 under the big budget package called the One Big Beautiful Bill. That’s not progress. That’s a decade of “do better later” while people suffer now. And when 2034 rolls  around they’ll ignore it again.

So yeah. I’m taking it off my to-do list. Not because I don’t care. I’ve been pissed off about this since I got wrapped up in the system. But petitions, hashtags, and righteous anger won’t cut through money and influence. Instead, I’m redirecting my energy into bringing awareness to the issue.

Healthcare is a mess and even if they weren’t being bought off by the healthcare industry, they can’t get their poop in a group to come up with a solution to solve healthcare affordability. And this is a problem on both sides of the political aisle. I’m just learning the hard way that sometimes caring isn’t enough…

Here are 16 out of many more lawmakers who have taken big contributions over their career from the health sector (hospitals, nursing homes, health services, pharma/health products). It's been going on forever. These are rough estimates—think of them as flags: “Hey, they got money from the sector that staffing mandates would affect.” This is a short list of past and current politicians who have been bought off. I hope caregivers remember their names and when karma comes around and they are in need of care, they are left waiting at the bottom of the priority list. Hopefully left to rot in their own shit and piss for hours, because they could do something about this and they won’t.

1. Kamala Harris — Pharmaceuticals/Health Products: reported among top recipients; OpenSecrets industry pages list her as one of the largest recipients ($61 million+ from health sector). 

2. Joe Biden — Pharmaceuticals/Health Products: listed among the top recipients in OpenSecrets aggregates ($63 million+ from health sector 1990–2024).

3. Mitt Romney (R-UT) — Pharmaceuticals/Health Products (career): $3,391,214 (OpenSecrets top recipients, 1990–2024). 

4. Anna Eshoo (D-CA) — Pharmaceuticals/Health Products (career): $2,250,016 (OpenSecrets member summary, 1990–2024). 

5. Frank Pallone Jr. (D-NJ) — Pharmaceuticals/Health Products (career): $2,211,461 (OpenSecrets member summary, 1990–2024). 

6. Bob Casey (D-PA) — appears among top recipients in OpenSecrets pharma/health product ($2,000,000+). 

7. Charles Schumer (D-NY) — Hospitals & Nursing Homes: OpenSecrets shows Schumer as a top recipient in that industry’s summary ($1,555,659 from pharmaceuticals and health products. Another $2,998,119 from the insurance industry). 

8. Raphael Warnock (D-GA) — Hospitals & Nursing Homes totals listed in OpenSecrets (e.g., $619k in certain cycle aggregates). 

9. Mitch McConnell (R-KY) — listed among large career recipients from health-related industries in OpenSecrets summaries (about $5 million from big pharma, the insurance industry and health professionals). 

10. Chuck Grassley (R-IA) — historically listed among large recipients from pharma/hospitals (Close to 1.4 million). 

11. Tammy Baldwin (D-WI) — Pharmaceuticals/Health Products (2023–24 cycle notable): OpenSecrets lists her among top 2023–24 recipients in the industry page (e.g., $258,558 for the 2023–24 cycle).

12. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) — appears as a top PAC recipient for Hospitals & Nursing Homes in 2023–24 PAC recipient lists on OpenSecrets ($176,634). 

13. John Barrasso (R-WY) — appears in Hospitals & Nursing Homes PAC recipient lists (at least $204,761). 

14. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) — Pharmaceuticals/Health Products: $1,407,680 (OpenSecrets lists Sanders’ contributions from the category in the 2020 cycle; total reported pharma/health-product totals across cycles are significant but OpenSecrets cycle breakdown shows at least ~$1.4M in the 2020 cycle)

15. Ruben Gallego (D-AZ) — Hospitals & Nursing Homes: shown on OpenSecrets’ 2023–24 industry page with totals (e.g., $261,052 in industry totals for that cycle). 

16. Max Baucus (D-MT) — more than $1.5 million from health-sector donors in a single election cycle.