State highlights: Iowa asks for federal waiver for state health coverage plan

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Aug 27 2013

A selection of health policy news from Iowa, Texas, Virginia, Georgia and Kansas.

Des Moines Register: Brandstad Asks Feds To Approve 'Iowa-Based' Health Care Plan
Gov. Terry Branstad filed a waiver request with federal officials on Friday, seeking expedited approval for a statewide program to expand access to health care for thousands of lower-income Iowans. "Our plan passed with bipartisan support and is designed to increase access, drive personal health ownership, and reform our health care delivery program to pay for quality, not quantity, of health care delivered," Branstad (a Republican) said in a letter to Kathleen Sebelius, secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (Petroski, 8/23).

Texas Tribune: Lawmakers Alter Texas Health Policies
State lawmakers approved a wide range of measures in the 83rd legislative session that will affect Texans' medical care. Use this interactive to take a look at 31 ways those laws will change Texas health policy (Aaronson, 8/26).

The Washington Post: Reston Firm Helps Health Care Providers ID High-Risk Patients
In health care, not all patients are equal. Some need costly treatment while others are relatively healthy, so providers must often decide who requires more attention and resources (Ravindranath, 8/25).

Georgia Health News: Lawmakers Try To Ease Burden Of Alzheimer's
"It's about people," said U.S. Rep. Hank Johnson, a Georgia Democrat. Johnson was referring to proposed legislation (H.R. 1507) to provide enhanced services for those affected by dementia, including Alzheimer's disease. It's the Health Outcomes, Planning, and Education Act, also known as the HOPE Act (Kanne, 8/25).

Kansas Health Institute: Cabinet Secretaries Express Support For Suicide Prevention Efforts
Kansas officials on Friday vowed to bolster support for suicide prevention and awareness efforts going on throughout the state. Suicide, they said, should be viewed as a public health issue that warrants open discussion (Ranney, 8/23).

This article was reprinted from kaiserhealthnews.org with permission from the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation. Kaiser Health News, an editorially independent news service, is a program of the Kaiser Family Foundation, a nonpartisan health care policy research organization unaffiliated with Kaiser Permanente.