Photo: Congressman Steve King (right) visits with Carroll Area Nursing Director, Kim Lambert (left) while staff member, Deb Christiansen looks on
Kim Lambert and Jodi Kanne’s mother started Carroll Area Nursing Service (CANS) in 1993, with a vision to help people remain in their homes and still get the care they need. Lambert and the staff, some of whom have been with CANS since the beginning, met with Congressman Steve King this morning (Thursday) asking him to take their concerns to legislators in a few key areas. First was a request to look into extending the three percent add on rule that is scheduled to end in 2020. This helps cover some of the expenses encountered by the rural nurses traveling extensively to serve patients from Walnut and Atlantic, to Charter Oak, Wall Lake, Jefferson and Guthrie Center. Lambert said they are also seeing issues with the Face-to-Face program because of the forms. This Affordable Care Act rule requires a licensed physician meet face-to-face with a patient before the start of care. Lambert said they are not asking for it to go away, rather to simplify it and allow nurse practitioners to sign for their patients. The third is what Lambert called a “sick tax.”
King will support the three percent piece without hesitation. He said we want services in our rural areas and the most important part of healthcare is access to it. He added that he needs to learn more about the co-pay piece, but he will be going back and discussing the possibility of other ideas with legislators so that seniors are not more strapped with medical co-pays they cannot afford. Lambert highlighted that one of the major stumbling blocks for the health care businesses in Iowa who work with Medicaid patients is increased costs of implementation and the inability to get reimbursed since Iowa switched to private management with the Managed Care Organizations. Lambert said it took extreme action on her part just to get paid.
King noted that this a state-driven program and he is aware Gov. Branstad is determined to bring competition into it. Angela Mitchell, intake coordinator at CANS, explained to King that their hands have been tied with new regulations limiting visits, no matter the individual circumstances for patients, and that providers are forced to offer services that are not reimbursed to maintain their own standards in patient care. King said Mitchell had touched on the most important thing.
The problem, he added, is the overreach of the federal government. The inability for businesses to provide that level of care is a symptom of that overreach.
If Republicans win the election in November, King said, they will have one more chance at fixing these problem with the repeal of Obamacare.
