Articles Tagged: Iowa Department of Human Services

More legislation is needed as the state combines the former human services, public health and aging departments

Kelly Garcia heads the newly formed Iowa Department of Health and Human Services, which combines the Department of Human Services and Department of Public Health

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — A state court judge has dismissed a lawsuit filed by a former state agency director who claimed Gov. Kim Reynolds fired him after he objected to her diverting federal Medicaid money to pay a member of her staff.

Iowa DHS has received responses from five insurers to run the state's privatized Iowa Medicaid program. Awards are expected to be announced Aug. 31.

State and federal guidelines call for mask use in early care and education facilities for those 2 and up. The Marion parents have a 19-month old they want to wear a mask at day care.

The state’s share of the health and human services budget would be $53.6 million more than current spending, a 2.6 percent increase, according to Legislative Services Agency. It’s also $39.5 million more than Gov. Kim Reynolds recommended.

One bill would create a state-funded psychiatry residency program in cooperation with the state’s mental health institutes, resource centers, training school Iowa Medical and Classification Center. Another would help mental health professionals pay school loans.

In the first year since the opening of the Linn County Mental Health Access Center, over 70 percent of its patients said in discharge surveys they would not have sought services if not for the new mental health crisis center.

Proponents say bills changing the staffing ratios and allowing younger workers to operate with less supervision would allow flexibility in child care facilities, but opponents say the changes could make those settings less safe for children.

A proposal increases the number of two-year-olds one care center staff member can watch.

The merged department should be able to help people seamlessly receive the maximum services in the most efficient way to give families the tools to be independent, she tells legislators.

The records are emails that were encrypted to protect their confidentiality. When Iowa Human Services changed computer software in 2018, it reportedly lost the ability to decrypt virtually all of the encrypted messages sent over the previous two years.

Although the average number of patients and residents decreased over the past five years, the total cost to maintain Iowa’s six state-run institutions has increased according to a new report from the Iowa State Auditor’s Office.

CareSource, a health insurance company based in Ohio, announced Wednesday they plan to submit a bid to join Iowa’s Medicaid program as a managed care organization. The program current administers health benefits to more than 750,000 poor and disabled Iowans.

Wendy Leiker, superintendent of the Boys State Training School in Eldora since Aug. 28, 2020, resigned last week amid an investigation at the school.