Last week I had the privilege of leading a press conference where we unveiled an initiative to provide health insurance for all children in Iowa. House Study Bill 636 and Senate Study Bill 3140 were introduced for consideration.

The legislation to cover all children under 18 years of age was one of the recommendations of the Legislative Commission on Affordable Health Care Plans for Small Businesses and Families, which I co-chaired with Senator Jack Hatch. The Commission became a nearly full-time job for me during the interim. We met in various locations in Iowa for eight months, developing recommendations on how to cover more Iowans and control rising health care costs.

The legislation introduced last week would cover an additional 25,000 children through Healthy and Well Kids in Iowa (hawk-i), Medicaid and other government health care programs. The 19,000 remaining Iowa children without health care would be covered by private insurance plans. Already, 97% of Iowa children have health care coverage, so we are in an excellent position to provide health care insurance to every uninsured child. We are convinced that we can find and insure the remaining 3% of Iowa children. No Iowa family should ever have to worry about choosing between providing food and housing or health care for their children.

In our proposal, families with an income between 200% and 300% of the federal poverty level would receive a state subsidy to help them purchase insurance for their children. Families will participate in a co-pay arrangement based on their income. These children come from families whose parents work but do not make enough to afford health insurance on their own.

This initiative is the first piece of a major overall reform of Iowa’s health care system. The implementation of the legislation is, of course, dependent upon the availability of funds. As more funds become available, more children will be covered.

The legislation released this week is steering us in the right direction. It includes fundamental reforms to Iowa’s health care system, including the use of telemedicine, the creation of “medical homes” that provide consistent care focused on wellness and prevention, and an “insurance exchange,” an entity designed to improve quality and lower costs for private insurance plans.

Because this is such a high priority to both chambers, the House and Senate Human Resources Committees will hold joint subcommittee meetings to work on the new legislation as it moves forward. I’m optimistic we can accomplish this goal in the next two to three years. As we move through the process, we’ll better understand how to reach the goal of extending health care to all Iowans.

My goal is to see that every Iowan has access to quality health care that is affordable and provides choice, consumer information, cost containment, and preventive health care.

I am looking forward to another very busy week working at the Capitol for my neighbors of House District 29. You can write me at the State Capitol, Des Moines, IA 50319; call me at 515/281-7328 or e-mail me at  ro.foege@legis.state.ia.us.

Ro

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