Iowa’s Grassley, Miller-Meeks reintroduce bill to increase health care access for children

Families of children with complex medical conditions needing to travel out of state to receive specialized care would have fewer hoops to jump through under legislation sponsored by members of Iowa’s congressional delegation.

Iowa Republicans U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley and U.S. Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks reintroduced legislation Wednesday that would improve health care access for children with complex medical conditions by simplifying out-of-state Medicaid enrollment processes for pediatric care providers. The bill is backed by more than 200 children’s hospitals, patients and research organizations nationwide, including in Iowa.

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“Families who rely on Medicaid shouldn’t have to jump through hoops to secure treatment for their kids,” Grassley told The Gazette. “Their ZIP code shouldn’t matter as well. In Iowa, we’re fortunate to have facilities like the University of Iowa Stead Family Children’s Hospital. Oftentimes, families across the country — sometimes even in Iowa — need to cross state lines for quality pediatric care.”

Grassley and Miller-Meeks introduced the bill alongside U.S. Sen. Michael Bennet, D-Colo., and U.S. Rep. Lori Trahan, D-Massachusetts.

Children with complex medical needs cannot always receive the highly specialized care they need within their home state, Grassley said. When that happens, parents must work with health care providers and state Medicaid officials to find out-of-state providers able to provide necessary medical care.

That process, Grassley and Miller-Meeks said, is difficult and full of red tape.

"This legislation gives children with rare and complex diseases access to health care institutions and research facilities that are in many cases out of state,“ Miller-Meeks said in a statement. ”It also lessens the bureaucracy and significant wait times that bottleneck patient care and risk worsening a child’s health condition.”

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The Accelerating Kids’ Access to Care Act would provide states with the ability to use a streamlined screening and enrollment process for out-of-state pediatric care providers that need to enroll in another state’s Medicaid program.

“In Iowa, families are fortunate to have complex specialty care available right here in the state at University of Iowa Stead Family Children’s Hospital, but out-of-state families who rely on Medicaid and need the specialized care only our experts can provide are faced with a cumbersome process to get coverage, resulting in delays in care that can sometimes be life-threatening,” Dr. Brooks Jackson, vice president of medical affairs at University of Iowa, said in a statement. “This bill streamlines the enrollment process for our providers so it is quicker and easier for out-of-state Medicaid patients to see us for their complex medical care needs.”

Dr. Wendy Woods-Swafford, vice president and medical director at Blank Children’s Hospital & Women’s Services in Des Moines, said the bill will reduce delays for children who rely on Medicaid in receiving pediatric specialty care.

“Iowa has great care for children, but no state has every critical treatment option for each and every complex medical condition,” Woods-Swafford said in a statement. “Our Iowa families rely on coordinated care for their child between their local provider teams and pediatric specialty teams from across the country. This legislation will make a difference to countless children by increasing their access to the pediatric specialty care.”

Grassley and Bennet introduced the same legislation in 2021, where it garnered 24 bipartisan co-sponsors in the Senate, but failed to pass out of committee.

Comments: (319) 398-8499; tom.barton@thegazette.com