Iowa Health Care for All - Update

ICAN wrapped up another year working at the state level for health care reform.

ICAN and our allies fought for and won a commitment from the state to pass reform that will make health insurance accessible, affordable and available to all Iowans by July 1, 2010. We also worked to establish a health care commission that will make recommendations to the Legislature to achieve these goals. Betty Ahrens, our Executive Director is proud to serve as a consumer representative to that health care commission. She and her fellow commission members are hard at work making recommendations ready by the first of the year.

A bill that started as a full blown insurance exchange much like what happened in Massachusetts ended up being a board that will recommend to the state by July 1, 2010 a set of plans to be made available to adults that will be affordable to them, some subsidized and some unsubsidized.

ICAN's continued efforts to coordinate a coalition of health care reform advocates proved successful in implementing an incremental improvement this year. Through strong coordinated efforts, ICAN and the members of the Iowa Health Care for All coalition prevented backsliding from the victories won last year.