A Message from the CEO - March 2025
Lots of questions regarding federal and state funding and financing of healthcare going on right now. I’m the President of the Iowa Rural Health Association this year and will be submitting a letter to the Des Moines Register regarding Medicaid and Iowa rural healthcare.
The state of Rural…In Iowa
As the legislators in the capitol have just marked the end of the first funnel deadline, it’s important to consider the impacts proposed legislation will have on all Iowans. To put it in perspective, 38% of Iowa’s population lives in a non-metro area. That means 1.2 million people (38%) reside in our small towns and communities across our state. They seek care in our 212 Rural Health Clinics, 83 Critical Access Hospitals, and 56 rural Federally Qualified Health Centers clinic sites.1
As budgets at the state and federal levels continue to be scrutinized, the proposed federal cuts to Medicaid would have severe impacts on increasingly fragile healthcare system would be tremendous. Forty-one percent2 of the births in Iowa are covered by Medicaid. 38.7% of children in Iowa are covered by Medicaid and 50% of our nursing home residents are covered by Medicaid. Iowa’s hospitals already operate at very small margins. The Center for Healthcare Quality and Payment Reform estimates that 20 rural Iowa hospitals are at risk for closing, including 5 at immediate risk for closing. Cutting a major source of coverage will cause additional financial hardship and further exacerbate access issues.
This legislative session, Governor Reynolds has championed several rural health initiatives with. She has proposed additional funding for loan repayment programs and an enhanced partnership with Iowa’s teaching hospitals to create new residency slots. To address the maternal health crisis, the Governor’s Rural Health care bill will unbundle Medicaid payments and increase rates for those who are taking care of moms and babies. We appreciate the Governor’s recognition of the importance of our rural communities. Rural healthcare is the backbone of our rural communities. When our communities are healthy, our communities flourish. Cutting critical programs is not the way to provide our most vulnerable residents with the freedom to flourish or make Iowa healthy again.
The above letter are the facts. By changing the reimbursement model Iowa Specialty Hospitals & Clinics will have to reflect on how it provides care to our communities. I will do my best to keep you all informed of potential changes if reimbursements are cut.
1https://www.ruralhealthinfo.org/states/iowa)
2(https://www.iowadatacenter.org/index.php/data-by-source/state-agencies/medicaid-reimbursed-births)
