Despite protests, Iowa DHS oversight council approves family planning network rules

Despite protests and concerns that the state of Iowa's new family planning network will limit access - especially to those living in rural areas - the Iowa Department of Human Services' oversight council on Friday approved agency rules guiding the program.

The vote comes two weeks before the new program is set to start on July 1 and just two days after the council initially rejected those rules.

The Republican-controlled legislature this session decided to forgo federal dollars for family planning services such as cancer screenings, sexually transmitted infection testing and birth control for low-income men and women. Instead, it set aside $3 million to create a state-run program that would exclude facilities that provide abortions, such as Planned Parenthood.

Planned Parenthood since has announced it would close four of its 12 Iowa clinics on July 1 - a move that will affect more than 14,600 individuals. The women's health organization is closing clinics in Keokuk, Burlington, Sioux City and the Quad Cities.

A cloud of confusion appeared on Wednesday after council members rejected the rules in a rare 4-1 vote, citing access concerns as Planned Parenthood clinics, the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics and UnityPoint-Health no longer would be eligible providers under the program.

The council met again Friday to hear from the Attorney General's Office as well as DHS. The council members' initial concerns were not remedied, however, but they ultimately passed the administrative rules after Gretchen Kraemer, a representative from the Attorney General's Office, said the program would have proceeded even without the council's OK, as it is mandated by the legislature.

It is important for the rules to reflect the law, Kraemer said, to ensure the program is fairly and consistently implemented. If not, there could be confusion among patients and providers.

'I completely disagree with the legislation, but in some ways there's nothing to vote against here because, in some ways, the rule has to match the legislation,” said Kim Spading, a council member and pharmacist from Coralville.

Council members asked DHS to provide them with the same data it plans to present to legislators in January that will look at access to services and providers for the first six months of the program. Members also voted to draft a letter to send to legislators that lays out their concerns.

'It is the will of the council to raise these issues and have them talked about and to signal to the legislature that we have a problem with that,” council Chairman Mark Anderson said.

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