FFA visits lawmakers

The best part of this week was a visit from FFA members from across the state.

The Capitol was packed. Sen. Driscoll, Representative Hora and I fielded questions from FFA teachers and students from Williamsburg, CCA, HLV, English Valleys, and Iowa Valley.

They asked lots of good questions about agriculture, cellphones in schools, hands-free driving, and how to get involved in government.

The picture is of the group from Iowa Valley. Go Cats!

This week, we moved from fancy speeches to the nitty-gritty of legislating. One of the committees on which I sit is the House Commerce Committee. Last week, we introduced ourselves and shared one issue we hoped the committee would address this session. I said, “Insurance.”

I know it’s not the most exciting topic in the world, but many folks have seen their home insurance premiums double.

We talk about lowering property taxes, and I hope we do, but if insurance premiums continue to increase so rapidly, home ownership costs will remain painful.

Also, Iowa is an insurance center — the share of our private workforce employed in the insurance industry is number one in the nation. This stuff is important.

So this week, the House Commerce Committee heard a presentation from the Department of Insurance and Financial Services.

Highlights:

•The increased storms and floods in Iowa have caused rates to go up.

•The increased storms and floods have caused several insurance providers to exit Iowa.

•After the tornadoes last year, the Department deployed staff to Greenfield and other communities to get the claims process started early and to clamp down on out-of-state storm chasers and unlicensed public adjusters. We remember what happened after the derecho a few years ago and know how important this is.

•The Department oversees Pharmacy Benefits Managers, and during the last two years they have received over 100,000 complaints, mostly about pharmacies being reimbursed for drugs less than it cost the pharmacy to buy the drugs in the first place. You cannot stay in business if you sell a product for less than you paid for it. This is hurting pharmacies, particularly those in small-town and rural Iowa. As a result, many of those pharmacies have closed in recent years. The Department is investigating and will report back to the legislature. I expect some reform efforts on this issue during this session.

One other cause of increasing insurance costs that has to be mentioned is the rampant inflation we have had over the past few years. If it costs twice as much to rebuild a home as it did a few years ago, you should expect your premiums to double as well.

Before the session started, I was repeatedly warned that it would feel like I was “drinking from a fire hydrant.” In other words, it would feel overwhelming for us new legislators.

It has been great.

Two subcommittees I sat on this week are worth mentioning.

The first involved “prior authorizations.” When you visit a doctor, they may want to order an MRI or schedule surgery for you. In many cases, they cannot do that unless your insurance company authorizes it first.

That’s called a “prior authorization.” The insurer must authorize the health care prior to the doctor providing it.

Many of us believe that current law allows insurers too much time to give prior authorizations. Unnecessary delays hurt patient care.

The bill we considered would require insurers to give authorization more quickly. Many insurers and health care providers spoke at our subcommittee meeting. We advanced the bill.

But the bill is not perfect, in my opinion. I stated at the hearing that, given the advances in AI and other technology, I expect prior authorization times to shrink even more in the near future.

We will have to keep an eye on it. The faster we can get people the care they need, the better they will recover.

The second bill relates to the use of subpoenas by defendants in criminal trials. Attorney General Brenna Bird spoke at our hearing and said that some defendants are harassing and intimidating victims, prosecutors, and witnesses with subpoenas.

Other speakers were concerned that the current bill does not do enough to protect the right of defendants to a fair trial. We advanced the bill but announced that we are going to keep working on it. It is a thorny issue that involves constitutional rights.

One last note. I also signed on to co-sponsor a bill that would give rural and small-town folks more meaningful participation in certain county supervisor elections. More on that in a future newsletter.