(Radio Iowa) – The Iowa legislature has sent the governor a bill to expand access to mental health treatment for people who do not need to be hospitalized, but still need comprehensive in-person services. The bill gets rid of a state rule that insurance companies cited when limiting coverage for these services to just 10 days. House members voted to send the bill to the governor, but expressed frustration about senate changes to it that let insurance companies and the private managers of Iowa’s Medicaid program keep requiring prior authorization for such care.
Representative Gary Mohr of Bettendorf convened a day-long hearing to focus attention on the issue. “I thought we were on the right track to help all the people that need the help. The senate made a couple of changes to it, so we didn’t get everything we wanted, but we got maybe half the loaf,” Mohr said. “We’re going to watch it and hopefully if we need to come back next year and make further changes, we will.”
Mary Neubauer’s son Sergei took his own life in 2017 and she is among the advocates who’ve been pressing for changes. She says the longer patients wait for insurance authorization to get care during a mental health crisis, the harder it may be for that person to recover. “I think this bill still is an improvement over current law,” Neubauer said, “and that’s the important part of getting it across the finish line.”
Representative Beth Wessel-Kroeschell of Ames says the Senate changes lean in favor of private insurers and the companies that manage care for Iowa Medicaid patients. “I realize we have to compromise to get out of here,” she said. “I just wish the compromise would have favored those who need the care.”
The bill calls for a bed tracking system at facilities in Iowa that provide intensive medical care for children in a residential setting. It also could expand mental health services at the state-run Mental Health Institute in Independence — but only if state officials could do so within the Institute’s current budget.
