House passes plan to expand health insurance coverage for children

DES MOINES -- The Iowa House passed health care reforms Monday sponsors said would move the state closer to the goal of making sure all Iowa children are covered by health insurance.

The reforms would make it easier to qualify for hawk-i, the state health insurance program for children, by increasing the eligibility threshold to 300 percent of the federal poverty level. Parents would be required to have health care for their children if they qualify for Hawk-i or Medicaid.

About 30,000 Iowa children have been identified as having no health insurance, an estimate that's likely to rise to 90,000, said Rep. Mark Smith, D-Marshalltown.

"We're bringing to you today good legislation that moves Iowa clearly on the path of responding to the needs of our citizens who are uninsured, whether they be children or whether they be adults," Smith said.

The bill, Senate File 389, did not include the estimated $7 million it will cost to expand coverage to uninsured children.

The measure gained wide bipartisan support, clearing the House on a 92-3 vote. House sponsors made significant changes from the Senate version.

The version passed by House did not include the creation of a special insurance exchange to help develop affordable health care plans for Iowans that was part of the Senate plan.

Rep. Linda Upmeyer, R-Garner, said some had concerns the insurance exchange included in the Senate version put the government in the insurance business. Instead, the House bill creates a commission to study the issue and make recommendations.

"We say there needs to be products on the market ready for sale that give people a whole lot more choices," Upmeyer said.

Sen. Jack Hatch, D-Des Moines, who has led health care reform efforts in the Senate, said he expects they will make changes to the House version.

He praised the children's health insurance provisions in the bill, saying they will mean Iowa will have the highest percentage of children covered of any state in the station.

"That's going to be a real prize for Iowa," Hatch said.