Wednesday, February 20, 2008

State Watch

Iowa Governor Announces Proposals To Insure More Residents, Lower Costs

      Iowa Gov. Chet Culver (D) on Monday proposed four measures that would increase state residents' access to health insurance and lower coverage costs, the Des Moines Register reports. Under Culver's plan, insurers would be required to provide coverage for individuals who have qualified for group coverage, even if they have pre-existing medical conditions. Insurers also would be required to provide coverage for adult children of family policyholders up to age 25.

In addition, the plan would cap long-term care premium increases at 12% annually, and a group would be created to develop a plan to convert the state's medical record-keeping to an electronic system. The Iowa Hospital Association and Iowa Health Systems already have received a $17 million grant to assist with the conversion.

Culver said the state eventually could require all residents to obtain health coverage, adding that an insurance mandate "might be part of the long-term plan" to achieve universal health coverage, but "right now, we've looked at a few easy steps to take that we thought, we believe, there could be quite a bit of consensus on" (Beaumont, Des Moines Register, 2/19).