Health & Fitness
Medicaid Expansion Versus the Healthy Iowa Plan
Lawmakers should be paying more attention to authorities like the president of the Iowa Hospital Association for advice on the expansion of Medicaid.
For two years, Gov. Branstad stubbornly believed that he did not
need to act on the expansion of Medicaid. He did not even present the Healthy Iowa Plan until after the Iowa Senate had already debated and voted on expanding Medicaid.
Arizona Gov. Brewer had also refused to act. But at least she wisely agreed to the fiscally responsible Medicaid Expansion instead of quickly
cobbling together a state plan.
There are still many unknown factors in the Healthy Iowa Plan. We
do not know where 25% of the annual funding ($42 million) will be raised to
fund the plan. Iowa needs a governor who presents more than "pie in the
sky" solutions.
Find out what's happening in Waukeefor free with the latest updates from Patch.
Iowa spends two-thirds of Medicaid dollars on severely, chronically disabled individuals, who have needed the services. Gov. Branstad claims that Medicaid is broken. A 2012 Medicaid Actuarial Report shows that Medicaid benefits spending per beneficiary decreased by 1.9% from 2011. Instead of using current reports, Gov. Branstad uses many outdated reports and uninformed claims for his conclusions.
Neither the governor nor most legislators are experts on the medical needs of low income Iowans. Lawmakers should be paying more attention to authorities like the president of the Iowa Hospital Association. Kirk Norris advocates accepting all of the federal support offered to our state.