Mental health care and managed care of Medicaid continue to be hot topics during the 2019 Iowa legislative session. St. Anthony Regional Hospital is one of the few healthcare organizations in the state that maintains a mental health unit, and District 12 House Representative, Brian Best, commends them for their commitment to the people of the region.
He adds that he is pleased Gov. Kim Reynolds is more interested than any other governor in history in supporting these necessary medical services. She has called for about $3 million to be spent on mental health care in schools.
He says there needs to be an awareness by Medicaid, by insurers and by the State of Iowa and they should do the right thing by these people. Best also calls on the state’s Managed Care Organizations (MCOs) to use additional funding allocated in support of care for their patients.
Mental health, however, is not the only healthcare-related issue legislators are facing this session. They are also working to find solutions to late payments and shortfalls from the current MCOs that are having a detrimental effect, not only on the providers, but on the very people they are meant to serve.
