Warme

Iowans deserve access to the best quality health care at the lowest possible cost. This week, I was the floor manager for a major health care reform bill toward that end, and it passed unanimously. HF 2635 works to remove administrative and regulatory barriers so our hard-working health care professionals can spend more time in patient care and less time on paperwork.

A key division of the bill reforms Iowa’s Certificate of Need laws. This is a priority I inherited from Senator Jeff Edler, who worked for years with stakeholders to establish a framework for reform and bring a more free-market approach to health care expansion. Our current law was enacted in 1977, and medical costs and technologies have changed drastically since then. Three months ago, Iowa HHS delivered a study requested by the Legislature, which we reviewed in the Health & Human Services Committee. The findings show clear evidence that reforming CON laws can improve population outcomes, reduce costs and eliminate significant administrative burdens for both health care providers and taxpayers.

Our resulting reforms maintain some state oversight of physical facilities, but no longer hinder patient access to services and the latest equipment. Ongoing health care innovation brings new services, technology and delivery methods that cannot always be updated in statutes and we want to streamline availability for Iowans.

We also focused on commitments made in the federal Rural Health Transformation grant process. Iowa applied for $1 billion to help improve health in our state and has already been awarded $209 million for the first year. The changes in HF 2635 will maximize our opportunity to continue receiving this investment in a healthier Iowa.

Five key services are excluded from CON under this legislation to facilitate increased investment in these areas: outpatient behavioral health including opioid treatments, radiation therapy, cardiac catheterization, organ transplant services and open-heart surgery. We want Iowans to have timely access to these critical services, particularly in areas like cancer care. We have a recent example of how removing these regulations can quickly deliver new service availability. Last year I managed a bill to remove CON for birth centers, and a new center has already opened in Adel, with another expected soon in Charles City.

Beyond CON, the bill also provides clear expectations for health insurance carriers in how they work with providers. Iowans expect timely review of their health services, while proper checks remain in place to limit waste and fraud. Our work this week ensures that medical providers have an adequately trained peer within the medical insurance company review their requests for prior authorization. We also eliminated prior authorizations for cancer screenings and emergency medical conditions during inpatient stays. These are common sense reforms that reduce administrative burdens while meeting the needs of Iowans.

HF 2635 provides the flexibility to drive innovation, improve quality care and reduce unnecessary regulation and costs in healthcare for Iowans, and I was proud to work together with many colleagues and industry experts over the past three months to finalize the policy. Seeing the bill pass with broad bipartisan support in both the House and Senate this week was one of the highlights of my time so far representing you in the Iowa Senate.

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Kara Warme, a Republican from Ames, represents District 26 in the Iowa Senate.