DES MOINES – North Iowa legislators were thanked Wednesday for their efforts in helping a wellness plan gain approval last year.
Employees and volunteers from Mercy Medical Center North Iowa and Franklin General Hospital traveled to Des Moines on Wednesday, February 26, to thank House Majority Leader Linda Upmeyer of Clear Lake and Senator Amanda Ragan of Mason City for their bipartisan effort to create the Iowa Health and Wellness Plan in 2013.
Governor Terry Branstad and other legislators came to Mason City last June as a bi-partisan health care bill was signed into law on the Mercy Hospital main campus.
Branstad said that day that the bill will be good for Iowans and promote wellness and preventative health measures.
In January, Branstad announced that the State of Iowa received final documents from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services on the approval of the Health and Wellness Plan waivers.
The State of Iowa worked with the Center for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) to finalize the plan, which will be administered by the Iowa Department of Human Services. Officials anticipate that over the next 3 years, about 150,000 Iowans will sign up.
