Sen. Jack Hatch, a Democrat representing Des Moines who found his fair share of controversy during the 2009 legislative session, hosted a statewide conference call and online chat on health reform earlier this month. As a part of the process he invited Iowans to ask questions about health reform of himself, a member of U.S. Rep. Bruce Braley’s staff and Dr. Berry Engebretsen, founder of the Community Health Centers of Iowa. Hatch has been instrumental in crafting Iowa’s health care policies.

Sen. Joe Bolkcom, a Democrat representing Iowa City, was also instrumental in crafting extended health care coverage for uninsured Iowans during the 2009 legislative session, and sponsored legislation to legalize marijuana for medicinal purposes.

Both men serve as assistant majority leaders in the Democratic controlled Iowa Senate. In addition, Bolkcom serves as chairman of the Ways and Means Committee while Hatch is chairman of the Health and Human Services Appropriations Subcommittee.

U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius made the announcement regarding the new advocacy committee Wednesday along with White House Office of Health Reform Director Nancy-Ann DeParle. The announcement came after members of the newly established group had met with federal officials in Washington. The Iowa representatives are joined by elected officials from 17 states — the Hawkeye State one of only three (Iowa, Maryland and Maine) with more than one representative on the initial committee.

According to DeParle, the state legislators will “host public events, author opinion pieces in local publications, and use their established networks to organize constituents in support of health reform.”

“We are all working in our states on health issues, but we know that this is an American problem that deserves an American solution,” Hatch said. “One state can’t do it alone. We will use our networks and our voices to organize and champion the cause of health reform.”

Though organizers have been soliciting questions for weeks, there is still time to participate by joining the live chat here.

The goal of the bill is to cover 30,000 currently uninsured Iowa children by increasing income limits for eligibility for the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP), known as HAWK-i, to 300 percent of the poverty level, or about $64,000 for a family of four.

The biggest difference from the bill passed by the Senate is the removal of a provision to create a  state commission that would have helped uninsured Iowans find affordable coverage. Instead, the House version creates a nine-member panel that will make recommendations to the 2011 General Assembly about how to help people obtain insurance.

Another controversial piece of the bill, which would have authorized small businesses and nonprofit organizations to buy into the state government’s health insurance plan, was also cut out.

State Sen. Jack Hatch, D-Des Moines, who helped craft the original legislation, made headlines last month after a House committee made the initial changes to the bill. His frustration boiled over and he told Rep. Ako Abdul Samad, D-Des Moines, that they were both being treated like the “N-word” and like “master and slaves.”

He quickly apologized to Samad, who is black, and later sent an apology e-mail to all legislators and their staff.

Hatch told The Des Moines Register that the Senate will make changes to the House bill but refused to elaborate.

While discussing changes made to Hatch’s health care reform bill by a House committee, the Senator told state Rep. Ako Abdul-Samad, D-Des Moines, that they were both being treated like the “N-word” and like “master and slaves.”

Hatch told The Des Moines Register on Saturday that he “immediately apologized and I apologized to his clerk, and that’s the end of it. His clerk was sitting right there, and I shouldn’t have said what I said. His clerk is an African-American, and I know what that means when someone says that.”

Today, Hatch sent an e-mail to lawmakers and all staff in the Iowa House and Senate:

Dear colleagues and legislative staff,

I am writing to apologize for a comment I made last week. As legislators, our comments reflect on everyone, and last Wednesday I made an inappropriate reference. It was wrong and inexcusable. We are to reflect Iowa values, and Iowans are a tolerant group. Our values embrace diversity and legislators need to reflect our highest standards.

Last Wednesday, I failed that standard and for that, I am sorry. It will never happen again.

If you want to discuss this with me, please seek me out.

Jack

“We are on track to covering all Iowa children eligible for public health insurance. That will extend health insurance to 30,000 currently uninsured children, giving Iowa the highest percentage of insured children in the nation,” said Sen. Amanda Ragan, D-Mason City.  “That accomplishment will make all Iowans proud.”

The bill would also help adults looking for affordable insurance options by allowing them to be considered state employees for the purpose of enrolling in a state health or medical group insurance plan. In order to be eligible to participate, an employer must apply for coverage and all employees must agree to enroll in a state plan. Pooling their workforce with the state is expected to lower premiums for small business owners.

Other reforms, such as a requirement that parents sign their children up for government insurance if they qualify and a ban on gifts to doctors from pharmaceutical companies, are also included in the bill.

“The state will create an ‘Iowa Insurance Exchange,’ an organization that will outline a high quality, affordable health care plan and invite private insurers to bid for the opportunity to provide it,” said Sen. Joe Bolkcom, D-Iowa City. “This will increase options while reducing complexity for adult Iowans struggling to find an affordable plan.”

Funding for the measure will come from money allocated last year when legislators first adopted the goal of insuring all Iowa children, from the recent reauthorization of federal dollars for children’s health insurance and from the federal stimulus plan.

“Thanks to strong, bipartisan support, Iowa is on track to become the first state in the nation where all children have access to affordable health insurance,” said Sen. Jack Hatch, D-Des Moines. “The three-year goal of covering all Iowa’s kids is part of a fundamental reform of Iowa’s health care system.”

The bill originally called for the extension of public health insurance to immigrant children who are in the country illegally, but that piece of the legislation was dropped.

The measure will now go before the full Senate.

Back in August, intern (and now Truman and Mitchell scholar) Alec Schierenbeck examined all sides of the payday lending industry in Iowa, painting perhaps the fullest picture of the issue available locally. In light of news that key legislators plan to move forward on a cap on payday loan interest rates, I’d recommend giving the story another read.

A few facts about payday lending that are important to keep in mind:

• 400 percent interest is very, very high — perhaps beyond the point of what should be legal — but the payday lending industry claims that capping interest rates at 36 percent (as the legislators tentatively proposed) would end the practice of payday lending in Iowa altogether.
• Consumers who avail themselves of payday loans frequently may end up losing large amounts of money each year, but they often do not feel taken advantage of. At least one frequent recipient of the loans says they have saved her life.
• Supporters of a ban on payday lending (or a cap in interest rates, which would likely have the same effect) say that without the availability of high-interest loans, consumers who are in trouble will start asking family and friends for money instead. This, they argue, is how it used to be, and it is only the social stigma attached to asking friends for money that keeps payday lenders in business.

It’s a tremendously complicated issue, and while there are plenty of folks in the lending industry who are out to take advantage of those who are already struggling, there are compelling arguments to be made on both sides. I’d encourage you to read on for more.

Cigarette makers agreed in 1998 to pay up to $2 billion to Iowa over 25 years. In 2002, the state sold off the rights to most of those payments for about $500 million in immediate cash. The plan then was to funnel the money into a standing fund whose earnings would pay for anti-smoking campaigns, cancer treatment and other tobacco-related expenses. But the state hit hard budget times, and legislators dipped into the fund for other needs, critics say.

Former Republican state Sen. Jeff Lamberti of Ankeny help put together the deal for the trust fund. Lamberti says there was talk of the tobacco companies going into bankruptcy to avoid paying some of the settlement, so the lump sum deal made sense.

“The model was good other states were doing it. I think in hindsight the thing we’ve learned is if government has an unrestricted pot of money to spend they will spend it and that’s unfortunate because I think the model was the right model for us to do,” Lamberti says.

American Cancer Society lobbyist Cathy Calloway said the idea that cigarrette companies were going to go bankrupt was always “preposterous.” She now worries about finding funding for tobacco prevention and programs to help people stop smoking. Her group opposed the 2002 sale of future payments.

Sen. Jack Hatch, D-Des Moines, said the money had to be used to fund rapidly increasing health care costs.

“So this is going to happen, it’s not that were spending the money wrong we just don’t have enough of it to spend,” Hatch says.