Gov. Terry Branstad met with U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius on Feb. 22 in Washington, D.C., to discuss possible compromises that would add Iowans to the state’s Medicaid rolls.

Branstad opposed the expansion and pushed for a continuation of IowaCare, which is expected to be eliminated Dec. 31 of this year.

Due to the increase of people IowaCare provides for, Branstad wants to revise it so that it covers more people, which is projected to be 70,000 low-income Iowans.

Democrats, however, disagree with Branstad and say that the expansion of Medicaid would provide more services to a larger number of people at a lower cost to them.

Under the Medicaid expansion, the federal government would pay the full cost for three years then, gradually, 3 percent of the cost would shift to the states.

IowaCare was created to prevent such instances. In 2005 it replaced Intergovernmental Transfers that were being phased out by the federal government.

This health care program now services 40,000 Iowans with low incomes.

Warren Madden, vice president for business and finance, said that any decision “is not an issue that directly involves Iowa State University.”

“The student health insurance plan must be in conformance with Federal regulations,” Madden said. “Under the new healthcare act that’s being implemented, there may be some changes we will have to make along the way.”

With there being only two hospitals in the state that provide IowaCare, Des Moines and Iowa City, the people receiving those services are a concern.

“Traveling to one of those two locations presents some challenges,” Madden said.

“Until we have more information on how the federal government is going to implement the health care plan, there are still a lot of unknowns, we don’t have answers to what the long term impact is going to be.”

“We are certainly hopeful that Secretary Sebelius will approve the waiver; although, there are a number of items that need to be worked through,” said Tim Albrecht, director of communications for Branstad.

“Medicaid in Iowa has expanded its Medicaid patients by 65 percent in the year 2000, but costs have gone up by 129 percent. Meanwhile the Medicaid population has not gotten healthier; in fact, since the year 2000, every health marker has gone down,” Albrecht said.

“Gov. Branstad does not favor putting more patients into a system that was designed for the 1960s.”

Instead, IowaCare will offer better care at lower costs and higher quality. Albrecht confirms that the waiver would need to be granted by September.