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Capitol Notebook: New study spotlights Iowa health care landscape
Also, man who killed Algona police officer sentenced to life in prison
More Iowa health care facilities have closed than opened since 2008, and more Iowa hospitals are operating at a loss as workforce shortages and costs rise.
That’s according to a new study released Thursday by Common Sense Institute, a nonpartisan, pro-business think tank. The study was primarily authored by Chelsea Lensing, the group’s health and wellness fellow and an assistant professor who teaches health economics at Coe College in Cedar Rapids.
Patients in the state face health care costs that far outpace inflation and wages, and Iowa’s hospitals collectively for the first time saw total operating costs exceed total revenues in 2022, the study found.
Iowa health care facilities also face rising personnel vacancies, and rural Iowans have less access to providers — particularly specialists, including in obstetrics and gynecology — compared with urban areas.
Iowa, though, still maintains a stronger health care system than most states and has the seventh-lowest rate of uninsured residents in the country, according to the report.
“There’s no silver bullet that will give every Iowan access to the care they need tomorrow, but we’ve worked hard to identify where to start,” Lensing said in a statement. “It’s clear from the data we must focus on reducing costs, filling the health care workforce pipeline, and expanding rural access, particularly for women and the elderly.”
Ben Murrey, the institute’s director of policy and research and a co-author of the study, noted U.S. News and World Report ranks Iowa ninth in the nation for health care access and 21st for overall health care. The Commonwealth Fund’s 2023 Scorecard on State Health System Performance rates Iowa as better than average compared with all other states in terms of access, affordability, prevention, treatment and other metrics.
“Iowa is better off than most states, but there’s room for improvement,” Murrey said. “To know whether recent reforms have made a difference, we’ll want to see continued improvements in the data over the coming years.”
Key findings of the report include:
- More than one third of all Iowa hospitals, and 60 percent of rural hospitals, operated at a loss in 2022.
- Over the last 15 years, 250 more health care facilities in Iowa have closed than have opened, with mental health centers leading all provider types in net closings, along with elderly care, home health, hospice and rehabilitation centers.
- Vacancies for hospital personnel in Iowa increased by 73 percent between 2020 and 2021.
- Iowan’s health care costs rose at about triple the rate of inflation in the three decades from 1991 to 2020.
- Between 2013 and 2022 after the passage of the Affordable Care Act, the rate of uninsured Iowans dropped from 8.1 to 4.5 percent, making Iowa seventh lowest in the nation.
- The privately insured bear a large share of the burden from rising health care costs. From 2009 to 2022, the total cost of health insurance in Iowa increased 67 percent, and deductibles rose 106 percent.
- As of 2022, Iowans have the fourth-largest percent of employee contribution, at 25 percent, to employer-sponsored health insurance of any state.
- Rural Iowa has 17 percent fewer physicians per capita than its urban areas.
- Since 2015, the rate of premature deaths per 100,000 Iowa residents has risen by 9 percent in urban areas and by 18 percent in rural areas. Drug overdose deaths from fentanyl are a major contributor to the increase.
For more information on the Common Sense Institute and its research, go to commonsenseinstituteia.org.
Iowa AG pushes SCOTUS review of restrictive transgender sports bills
Republican Iowa Attorney General Brenna Bird joined a coalition pushing for the U.S. Supreme Court to review and uphold state laws in Idaho and West Virginia that bar transgender women and girls from competing on female student athletic teams.
Bird is part of a 26-state coalition of attorneys general in filing an amicus brief calling on the court to take up West Virginia’s appeal of a lower-court ruling that struck down the state’s law. Idaho’s attorney general and attorneys from Alliance Defending Freedom are asking the high court to uphold the state’s Fairness in Women’s Sports Act after the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit stopped the law from going into effect.
A U.S. District Court blocked the law, ruling that it could violate the equal protection clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. The U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the court’s decision, leading to an appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court.
The amicus brief defending Idaho’s law argues that the clause does not require states to define sex as gender identity.
Bird argues allowing biological males to compete in girls’ sports undermines the purpose of Title IX, a landmark federal civil rights law that prohibits sex-based discrimination in any school or education program that receives funding from the federal government. The Iowa Attorney General said the measure is meant to ensure both sexes have equal access to educational opportunities, including sports, and that the state regulations are crucial for maintaining equal opportunities and safety for women in sports.
Gov. Kim Reynolds signed similar legislation in Iowa in 2022.
Man who killed Algona police officer sentenced to life
An Iowa District Court judge Wednesday handed down a mandatory sentence of life in prison without parole for a 44-year-old Algona man convicted of first-degree murder for the shooting death of 33-year-old Algona police Officer Kevin Cram.
The officer was trying to arrest Kyle Ricke on a warrant last fall when shot.
Iowa Attorney General Brenna Bird issued a statement thanking law enforcement, the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation and attorneys from her office who investigated and prosecuted the case.
“Officer Cram is a hero who dedicated his life to protecting the Algona community,” Bird said. “His bravery will be remembered. And now, justice will be served on the man who killed him. This is a reminder of the sacrifices our law enforcement officers make when they put on the uniform each day. In Iowa, we will continue to support our law enforcement and their families who serve to keep us safe.”
Iowans can begin requesting absentee ballots Tuesday
Iowans can begin request absentee ballots for the 2024 general election starting Tuesday.
County auditors will begin mailing absentee ballots to those who requested them on Oct. 16. The date also marks the beginning of in-person absentee voting for the fall election. Iowans must ensure their absentee ballot is returned to their county auditor’s office by the time polls close at 8 p.m. on Election Day, Nov. 5.
Absentee ballot request forms are available on the Iowa Secretary of State’s website at sos.iowa.gov. Voters need to download the form, complete and sign, and submit it to their county auditor. Providing a phone number or email address on the form is encouraged, but not required.
Active military members and overseas citizens can also begin requesting absentee ballots for the November election. That request form is available at bit.ly/3AJeq2q.
For more information to help prepare for the general election, Iowans are encouraged to visit VoterReady.Iowa.gov.
Reynolds appoints district associate judge
Gov. Kim Reynolds announced the appointment of Michelle Jungers as a district associate judge in Judicial Election District 1B.
Jungers, of Cedar Falls, is a lawyer and owner of Jungers Law PLLC. She received an undergraduate degree from Buena Vista University and her law degree from William Mitchell College of Law, according to the governor’s office.
Jungers fills a vacancy created following the resignation of the Daniel Block. The judicial district includes Black Hawk, Buchanan, Chickasaw, Fayette, Grundy and Howard counties.
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