Edler

This week was busy, as legislators continued to move priority bills ahead of the second legislative deadline. This is known as the “second funnel.” We also had floor debates to get those priorities over to the Iowa House of Representatives for further consideration.

This week I had the opportunity to floor manage Senate File 2381. It is known as the Patient’s Right to Save Act. This bill has three key elements. First, it requires all health care providers to establish and disclose a discounted cash price they will accept for specific health care services. This price would be available to both insured and uninsured individuals and posted on their website. Second, it permits an individual to apply the cash payment towards their deductible as a credit. Third, the bill establishes a savings incentive program for covered individuals who met their deductible to receive cash back in an amount up to half the difference between the discounted cash price and the average insurance rate for that covered health care service. By incentivizing cost-sharing with cash payment options that are cheaper than the insurance negotiated prices, it aims to reduce unnecessary administrative burden, expensive treatments that have no guarantee of high-quality care. This bill is one way we can help patients, especially those with chronic conditions, to have more dollars left in their pockets and not tied up in rising health care bills.

Illegal immigration is one of the top issues on the minds of people across the country. The crisis at the border caused by the inaction of the Biden Administration has threatened the well-being and welfare of families not just in states and cities along the U.S.-Mexico border, but everywhere. It has caused a rise in human trafficking, the free flow of illegal drugs and other crime.

While the responsibility to protect the American people and secure the border primarily rests with the federal government, Iowa has been compelled to take action to protect our own citizens. Over the summer, Gov. Kim Reynolds sent more than 100 members of the Iowa National Guard and Iowa Department of Public Safety to the border to assist with Operation Lone Star. Throughout that time, officers helped with cases involving drug trafficking, human trafficking, weapons arrest, vehicle pursuits and took almost two thousand illegal immigrants into custody.

Last week, the Iowa Senate passed the E-Verify bill, ensuring Iowa businesses are only employing workers in the country legally. This week, the Senate passed Senate File 2340, criminalizing the act of being an illegal alien in Iowa. Currently, this is only a federal crime. Making it a crime at the state level provides additional tools for Iowa law enforcement to deal with the ramifications of the border emergency.

The crisis at the border is affecting every state in the United States, not just those along the southern border. As the crisis continues to grow and the Biden Administration does nothing, the Iowa Senate will not stand idly by and let the negative consequences reverberate through Iowa, our communities, neighborhoods, and families. The passage of Senate File 2340 is one way the state can do its part to protect our citizens until a new President of the United States is elected and the federal government resumes its constitutional duty.

In closing, I want to remind Iowans, and individuals seeking a better life who wish to come to the United States of America, there are legal pathways to become a citizen. The U.S. has one of the shorter time periods to become a legal citizen, generally between 3 and 5 years depending on the status of the individual. Some countries around the world take between 20 to 30 years to complete the process.

Feel free to contact me with any questions at jeff.edler@legis.iowa.gov.