Saw this story in the Des Moines Register and thought I would share in order to get the word out. Another reason why our profit based health care system makes no sense. Lack of transparency as far as hidden facilities fees is a problem with Iowa’s largest health care providers.
“He went to get medication for ADHD. MercyOne charged him nearly $1,500 in facility fees.”
“In recent years, no one in the Iowa Legislature has taken any steps to limit or eliminate facility fees, or to make them more transparent to health care consumers, she said.”
So there’s that. Republicans have better things to do such as stir up the culture wars.
In other news, March Madness is upon us and I’m not talking about basketball. Republicans think guns in schools are a great idea in addition to many other follies such as deregulating CAFOs, ditching AEAs, trampling on the rights of women and minorities, ignoring voters’ wishes. The Iowa legislature’s second funnel week coming to a close has hopefully limited some bad Republican bills. Here’s Pat Grassley not answering questions from the Iowa press. He said they were “having conversations” thirteen times in 5 minutes by my count.
Below is an abbreviated list of bills that survived and died as posted in the Iowa Capital Dispatch:
What survived:
AEAs: Both the House and Senate’s proposals making changes to Iowa’s Area Education Agencies – the state special education providers as well as other general education and media services – were placed on the “unfinished business” calendar in both chambers. Reynolds named as a top priority her proposal allowing school districts to work with other providers or hiring their own staff to meet special education and other school needs.
Extracurricular activities open to private school students: House File 2467 would allow private-school students to participate in extracurricular activities at a public school, including sports teams, if the private school does not offer those activities. The parents of the student would be responsible for any fees associated with the activity.
Fetal development videos: The Senate Education Committee approved an amended version of House File 2617 Thursday. The bill would require schools to show students in grades 7-12 videos and graphics on fetal development from fertilization to birth in human growth and development and health classes. The amendment removed a reference to the “Meet Baby Olivia” video, produced by an anti-abortion group, which advocates with medical organizations and reproductive freedom groups said depicts inaccurate medical information and pushes a political, anti-abortion agenda.
Grooming, teacher discipline: Under House File 2487, school districts would be required to report to a state board if they take disciplinary action against licensed employees for “grooming” or abusing a student.
State supplemental aid: Iowa House lawmakers approved a 3% increase to the state’s per-pupil aid for K-12 schools in February, above the 2.5% rate proposed in Reynolds’ budget. The Senate’s version of the bill, Senate File 2258, is eligible for debate but does not have a target set for state supplemental aid. Lawmakers missed the self-imposed deadline for setting an SSA rate within 30 days of the governor releasing her proposed budget in early February — and Democrats criticized the lack of action by Senate Republicans to fund schools on Thursday, as schools are required to submit their budget proposals by March 15.
Postpartum Medicaid: Senate File 2251, a priority of the governor’s, would extend postpartum Medicaid coverage for new mothers from 60 days to a year, while limiting eligibility to families with income at or below 215% of the federal poverty line. The bill passed the Senate Feb. 19 and its companion bill, House File 2583 is on unfinished business in the House.
Basic income programs: A bill banning local guaranteed income programs – specifically impacting the UpLift program in central Iowa – remains alive and available for Senate consideration. House File 2319 would also allow the state attorney general to bring local governments to court for not complying with a cease-and-desist letter about prohibited programs.
Boards and commissions: Lawmakers in the House and Senate advanced separate proposals on elimination or consolidation of some of Iowa’s boards and commissions based on recommendations made by the state Boards and Commissions Review Committee. While Senate File 2385 follows the recommendations closely, proposing the merging or cutting of 111 of Iowa’s 256 existing boards, House File 2574 had a narrower scope with 49 boards and commissions up for discussion. Both bills were placed on “unfinished business” calendars in the respective chambers.
Election law: House File 2610 would make several changes to election law in Iowa, including shortening the early voting window by requiring absentee ballots be received by county auditors by 5 p.m. the day before an election and requiring county election commissioners mail absentee ballots no earlier than 22 days before an election. The bill also bans ballot drop boxes and ranked-choice voting, in addition to adding measures limiting ballot challenges to federal candidates. The bill passed the House and was placed on the unfinished business calendar, attached to Senate File 2380.
Eminent domain: House File 2522 would allow those who are subject to pending eminent domain requests to petition a district court judge to decide whether the requests are proper, prior to a final ruling by the Iowa Utilities Board. The bill has not advanced but remains eligible in the tax-writing House Ways and Means Committee.
Gender balance: Senate File 2096 would end the requirement that state boards and commissions include an equal number of men and women. The bill passed both chambers and moves next to the governor’s desk.
Storm water regulation: Senate File 455 would prohibit local regulations on stormwater runoff that are more restrictive than current flow rates based on return frequencies of five years. It also would prohibit local regulations related to topsoil preservation, compaction, placement or depth that are more restrictive than requirements set by the Department of Natural Resources and National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System.
Arming school staff: House File 2586 allows school personnel who meet training requirements to receive a permit for carrying a firearm on school grounds. The bill encourages school districts with 8,000 or more students to employ a school resource officer or security officer at facilities with students in grades 9 through 12 — though school boards are able to opt out of the provision.
The bill also establishes a School Security Personnel Grant, administered through the Department of Education, that would provide schools with up to $50,000 in matching funds to put toward hiring police or security officers for schools. The bill also indemnifies school staff and districts from civil or criminal liability stemming from the use of “reasonable force” in the workplace.
A separate bill, House File 2652, would create a $3 million grant program for schools to purchase “infrastructure and equipment related to employee permits to carry weapons,” as well as providing schools up to $25,000 for firearm training and stipends for employees who go through trainings. The legislation passed the House Wednesday and remains eligible as an appropriations bill.
Firearm regulation: House File 2556 would allow a judge to assess monetary damages against individuals or political subdivisions that enact local firearm regulations that are stricter than the state’s.
Religious freedom: Senate File 2095, similar to a 1993 federal law, would provide a higher legal standard be used in cases where a person claims that a government action has infringed on their ability to freely practice a religion. Governments would be required to have a compelling interest, and be using the least restrictive means, to uphold an action that would “substantially burden” a person’s religious liberties. The bill has been approved by both chambers and moves next to the governor’s desk.
What died:
Livestock feedlots: Senate File 2371 would allow operators of open feedlots to dispose of manure under certain conditions if failing to do so risks contaminating the state’s waterways. An early draft of the bill permitted feedlot owners to spread manure on farm fields for long periods of time without state approval. The bill survived the first funnel but did not get approval by the whole Senate.
Citizenship proof for in-state tuition: House File 2320 would require students admitted to Iowa’s community colleges and state universities to provide proof of U.S. citizenship or lawful presence in the U.S. to qualify for in-state tuition and fees.
Gender-neutral terms in world language classes: House File 2048 would prohibit the introduction of gender-neutral terms in public and private-school classes teaching a language “that utilizes a grammatical gender system.”
Birth control: House File 2584 would allow pharmacists to dispense birth control from behind the pharmacy counter, with various check-ins and self-risk assessments with the patient, for a total of up to 27 months before the patient would be required to see a physician in order to continue the prescription. The bill, proposed by the governor, passed a House committee last month but advanced no further.
Defining ‘sex,’ sex-segregated spaces, birth certificates: House File 2389 proposed defining the terms “male” and “female” in Iowa Code on the basis of a person’s biological reproductive system, and requiring that birth certificates of transgender people list both their sex assigned at birth and after transitioning. The bill would also allow sex-segregated spaces, such as bathrooms, locker rooms and women’s shelters to exclude transgender people on the basis of their sex assigned at birth. The bill received a public hearing but did not advance to the House floor, and was not discussed in the Senate.
Unborn personhood: Sen. Brad Zaun, R-Urbandale, chose not to bring House File 2575 for consideration by the Senate Judiciary Committee. The legislation, passed by the House, would raise penalties for the nonconsensual ending of a pregnancy while changing language on these crimes from references to the termination of a pregnancy to the “death of an unborn person.”
House Democrats argued during floor debate that the bill could put access to contraception and in vitro fertilization at risk, as unborn personhood language was cited in the Alabama Supreme Court case ruling that put IVF treatments at risk in the state. While Rep. Skyler Wheeler, R-Hull, said the bill would not have an impact on IVF, Zaun told reporters that he tabled the bill because of potential “unintended consequences” related to IVF.
Private CPAs conducting state audits: A Senate proposal that would have allowed state agencies to hire outside Certified Public Accountants to conduct state audits instead of the state auditor was not brought for consideration by the House State Government Committee this week. Rep. Michael Bergan, R-Dorchester, said in a subcommittee meeting Tuesday that there were concerns about whether Senate File 2311 would result in a greater fiscal impact than intended.
Union recertification: Senate File 2374 would require the decertification of public employee bargaining units if the government employer fails to provide a list of eligible employees to the Public Employee Relations Board within 10 days of receiving written notice of intent to conduct a certification election. The bargaining unit or bargaining representative could avoid decertification by petitioning the court to compel the government to provide the employee list. The bill passed the Senate Workforce Committee but did not advance further.
— Kathie Obradovich, Jared Strong, Brooklyn Draisey and Clark Kauffman contributed to this report.
Read more at Iowa Capital Dispatch
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