State Health Insurance Plans – Iowa, Alabama

Rule limits reach of Iowa health program, By Nigel Duara (AP), September 14, 2009, Des Moines Register: “A state program offering health care to low-income adults without children is serving thousands of people who have never had health insurance, but more than half of those enrolling are from six Iowa counties. That’s because people seeking care through IowaCare can only go to the University of Iowa Hospitals in Iowa City. The exception are people who live in Polk County, who can request a waiver to seek treatment at a Des Moines hospital. The situation has frustrated some hospital administrators and legislators, who call it unequal treatment that hurts patients and hospitals…”
ALL Kids insurance program eligibility expands Oct. 1, By Phillip Rawls (AP), September 14, 2009, Montgomery Advertiser: “Many middle-class Alabama children will qualify for publicly funded health insurance starting Oct. 1 because the Legislature is expanding eligibility to cover families of four making up to $66,150 annually. ‘For so many middle-income families, it never entered their minds they would be eligible for a public program,’ Cathy Caldwell, who directs the ALL Kids health insurance program for the state Department of Public Health…”