DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — More details are available on Republican Governor Terry Branstad’s health proposal for low-income residents.
Legislation for Branstad’s Healthy Iowa proposal came out Thursday. The plan would cover an estimated 89,000 residents with incomes below the poverty line.
According to the bill, participants would have access to a primary care doctor within 30 minutes or 30 miles of their home.
Branstad has proposed this plan because he opposes the Medicaid expansion permitted under President Barack Obama’s health care overhaul. Branstad says the long-term costs are unsustainable.
The Democratic-majority Senate has passed a bill that would expand the Medicaid program in Iowa. In a statement, Democratic Sen. Jack Hatch says Branstad’s proposal doesn’t cover enough and will cost more than a Medicaid expansion.
Branstad’s proposal will now be debated in the House.
