Articles Tagged: Health Care Policies

Also in the Capitol Notebook: Iowa Senate Republicans approve work requirements for Medicaid recipients

Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds this week signed a slate of bills into law. Among them is legislation designed to make it easier for health care providers to open new birthing centers in the state.

Friday is the 110th calendar day of the 2025 session of the Iowa Legislature. It is the last day that state lawmakers will receive their stipend for daily housing and meal expenses. While their work is nearing completion, here are some of the important tasks that remain.

Under a proposal advanced by Iowa Senate Republicans, Iowa Medicaid would no longer cover surgical, hormonal and other procedures related to treating Iowans with gender dysphoria. Critics warn the move could endanger the health and lives of Iowans.

Legislation designed to constrain prescription drug costs and protect rural pharmacies by regulating third-party health care companies known as pharmacy benefit managers is once again moving in the Iowa Capitol.

About a quarter of Iowans would no longer pay co-pays and deductibles for supplemental and diagnostic breast exams under legislation that unanimously passed the Iowa House and advanced Wednesday in the Iowa Senate. But insurers say health care costs would rise for everyone.

The legislation would work to address the shortage of physicians -- especially in rural areas of the state -- by consolidating and boosting funding in doctors’ loan repayment programs and increasing the number of medical residencies in Iowa

Health care providers in Iowa would be required to tell patients that it may be possible to reverse the effects of a medication abortion, something reproductive rights advocates and medical groups say is not supported by science.

Also in the Capitol Notebook: A bill criminalizing ‘smuggling’ of noncitizens advances in Iowa House.

Hospital leaders gathered Tuesday at the Iowa Capitol to show support for Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds’ proposal to improve access to high-quality health care in rural Iowa and address the state's shortage of health care professionals.

Iowa House lawmakers this week advanced several bills aimed at closing Iowa's growing shortage of physicians.

Plans outlined this week by Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds to address the state’s physician shortage by increasing medical residency slots in the state could help bolster access to physician services and rural health care. One Iowa hospital CEO says the challenge will be making sure new residency slots can be supported at hospitals across the state.

Also, the state workforce agency announced details on new health care worker grants that Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds highlighted in her Condition of the State address

The governor, in her annual Condition of the State Address, also proposes $1 million to start new cancer research effort.

Also, a baby girl born Nov. 11 was surrendered through Iowa’s Safe Haven Law