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Legislators Hear About Need for Health Care Coverage
March 12, 2007
At a January 29 briefing for Iowa legislators at the state capitol in Des Moines, Executive Director Di Findley and Policy Director John Hale of the Iowa Caregivers Association testified about the urgent need for health coverage for the state's direct-care workers.
Hale called on the lawmakers to do the right thing and ''get serious about health care reform.''
''While it's easy to look at this as policy issue, the reality is that it's a personal issue,'' he added. ''It's a personal issue for 275,000 Iowans without coverage, the thousands more who fear losing the coverage they have, the thousands more who are paying premiums that they can't afford for coverage that doesn't meet their needs, and the thousands more who can't get the insurance they are willing to pay for due to pre-existing conditions.''
Findley urged the lawmakers to consider the impact that lack of insurance has on the tens of thousands of people who rely on caregivers for assistance. ''As you know, the aging of Iowa's population and the dramatic increase in the number of people needing the services of caregivers, coupled with a dwindling workforce, is contributing to a serious care gap,'' she said. ''There is also the shortage of workers that occurs when they leave the fields at alarming rates?73 percent leave annually. And one of the main reasons they leave? The lack of health care coverage.''
The hearing was focused in part on creating a special commission to study health care reform options that would cover all Iowans.
By Elise Nakhnikian
Communications Specialist
Paraprofessional Healthcare Institute
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