Healthcare Dictatorship

This afternoon a bill requiring Iowans to have health insurance passed with bipartisan opposition in the Iowa Senate.

The bill requires Iowans, whose income is at or below the 300% level of the Federal Poverty Level - or just over $60,000 - to enroll their children in a state-run health insurance plan. If Iowans do not enroll in a form of health insurance, residents will face penalties created by the Department of Human Services and Department of Revenue. We don't yet know what those penalties will be but it is likely to be monetary. So what the Democrats proposed is penalizing the poorest of our population? Many would say these people already have enough hardships without the insurance police coming after them.

The bill creates more bureaucracy by having an insurance board that is legally untouchable. They can make decisions on these insurance cases in this new program but appealing those decisions will be virtually impossible.

Anytime an uninsured child goes into a hospital for care, they are never turned away. Iowa has Hawk-I provided for kids for free or at a reduced rate. These programs have worked perfectly in the past. In fact, if you turn on your car radio on any given day, you'll hear a Hawk-I commercial. The state has been promoting the heck out of this program.

This bill is another step toward socialized medicine that will end up raising insurance rate with private insurers. All of Iowa will feel the pain of this bill.