Stories

Even if Democrats manage to pass health reform legislation, if it contains an individual mandate it could prove unconstitutional, U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley said Thursday.
During an interview with KAYL radio in Storm Lake and the Marshalltown Times Republican, Grassley said that even though he’s never studied law and is not a constitutional expert, he still [...]

Federal stimulus for Medicaid has boosted jobs and incomes in Iowa while meeting the immediate health needs of vulnerable Iowans enduring a recession, researchers with the Iowa Fiscal Partnership reported today.
“Increased Medicaid spending has an economic benefit for the state of Iowa far greater than the federal government’s initial investment,” explained David Swenson, an economist [...]

Though it’s been little mentioned throughout the health reform debate, there’s a showdown brewing between House and Senate Democrats over the future of the popular Children’s Health Insurance Program, previously known as SCHIP.
House lawmakers have proposed to do away with the program at the end of 2013, transitioning millions of kids instead to private plans [...]

A last-minute amendment to the health care reform bill that passed the U.S. House on Saturday is disruptive to the current ban on federal funding for abortion services and could lead down a slippery slope that prevents women from accessing services with their own money as well, U.S. Sen. Tom Harkin said Tuesday.

U.S. Rep. Steve King (R-Kiron) made a significant sacrifice to cast his vote against the Democrats’ health care reform package, which passed by only a handful of votes Saturday night in Washington, D.C.
He skipped his son’s wedding.

U.S. Rep. Bruce Braley, D-Waterloo, was greeted on the floor of the U.S. House with catcalls of “trial lawyer” shortly before passage of health care reform legislation Saturday night.

A new white paper released by The Iowa Policy Project focuses on the disparities at play when rural residents seek health care insurance.
“[This report] really highlights that the need for health reform that isn’t limited to people who are working outside their home — that it is a big issue for those who are self-employed [...]

The health care reform bill passed Saturday night by the U.S. House requires the government to encourage suicide, according to U.S. Rep. Steve King.
While walking away from the U.S. Capitol, King, a Republican from Kiron, said page 644 of the health care bill says the government must “encourage the promotion of suicide or assisted [...]

U.S. Rep. Steve King is hoping to derail health care reform legislation scheduled to be debated in the U.S. House by trying to harness the Tea Party protests that took place throughout the summer and once again bringing them to the nation’s capital on Saturday.
King announced Friday that “will join his Republican colleagues and Americans [...]

WASHINGTON — How effectively will the U.S. House health care bill cover children? Turns out, it depends on where they live. The $894 billion health reform bill working its way toward a House vote this week would repeal the Children’s Health Insurance Program, shifting some low-income kids into Medicaid and others into private plans that would both cost more and guarantee fewer benefits.