Essential Estrogen

Iowa Rep. Ro Foege (D, Mount Vernon) was named co-chair of the new Affordable Health Care Commission by Speaker of the House Pat Murphy.

A new commission will be established as part of House File 909, signed into law by Gov. Chet Culver last week. The Health and Human Services appropriations bill included the creation of a Legislative Commission on Affordable Healthcare for Small Businesses and Families. Governor Culver approved an appropriation of $500,000 to cover the costs of the Commission.

The Commission will review, analyze, and make recommendations on issues relating to the affordability of health care for Iowans including:

• The benefits and costs of requiring all residents of Iowa to have health insurance coverage, including but not limited to individual mandates and proposals from other states.
• The benefits and costs of providing health insurance coverage to all children in the state, with a particular emphasis on children's health issues.
• Uninsured and underinsured Iowans with a special focus on determining the characteristics of the such populations, why such persons are uninsured or underinsured, and the most effective and efficient means to provide insurance coverage to such persons, including through government programs.
• Major factors and trends that are likely to impact the cost of premiums and affordability of health care during the next ten years, including the effects of mandates, levels of coverage, costs and pricing of treatments, cost-sharing and cost-cutting measures, cost-shifting measures, collaborative opportunities, subsidies, reinsurance plans, risk pooling, and wellness and disease prevention initiatives.

The Commission is required to complete its deliberations in December 2007 and submit a final report to the general assembly for consideration during the 2008 Legislative session. The Commission plans to hold their first meeting in June and will continue to meet monthly in locations across Iowa.