Governor’s adviser defends Branstad’s Healthy Iowa Plan

Despite hearing criticism at a public hearing and a pair of subcommittee meetings, the House floor manager of legislation to enact Gov. Terry Branstad's Healthy Iowa Plan said Wednesday he plans to move the bill to the full Appropriations Committee.

Rep. Walt Rogers, R-Cedar Falls, concedes the governor's plan is not perfect, but defended it April 17 at his second subcommittee hearing on House Study Bill 232.

“We're looking at two different version of how we want to help Iowans be healthy,” he said, referring to the governor's plan and Senate File 296, a plan approved by the Democratic-controlled Senate. “Everyone cares about the health of Iowans and doing something to take care of them. The question is how.”

Critics of Healthy Iowa Plan say Medicaid expansion is the quickest and easiest route to provide expanded access to health care. However, Rogers has concerns about the long-term sustainability of that approach.

“I'm still leery of the cost of Medicaid expansion,” Rogers said. “It would tie us to the same old plan.”

He believes that over time, the governor's plan would cost less “even without considering the potential savings from Iowans living healthier.”

A key component of the Healthy Iowa Plan is encouraging Iowans to take ownership of their health and take steps to be healthier.

Bousselot noted that even supporters of SF 296 conceded the plan has its weaknesses.

“Even proponents of Medicaid expansion are not that excited,” Rogers said. The governor's plan “is an opportunity to put together a better plan.”

That seemed to be the point he tried to make Wednesday morning in an exchange with Branstad's adviser, Michael Bousselot.

Bousselot emphasized that the Healthy Iowa Plan covers as many Iowans as SF 296. Any Iowan with an income less than 100 percent of the federal poverty level would be covered by the plan. Those earning between 101 and 138 percent of the poverty level would be covered by the insurance exchange that is part of federal health care reform.

“The (governor's) program is designed to take care of an entire population at or near the poverty level,” Bousselot said. “It covers the same population as Medicaid expansion, but leverages private insurance.”

In response to questions from Rep. Lisa Heddens, D-Ames, Bousselot said the Healthy Iowa Plan, “by its design is meant to be affordable.” For many low-income Iowans, he explained, tax credits would offset the cost of private insurance premiums. In addition to capping premium costs, the plan caps out-of-pocket expenses, he said.

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