“It is simply wrong that so many people who provide care for others do not get care themselves because they do not have any health insurance or because the insurance they do have fails to meet their needs,” direct-care worker Kealy Andersen, a member of the Iowa CareGivers Association, told a group of special commissioners studying health care in Iowa. “The work we do is among the most important in society. We deserve good health coverage.”
A story in today’s SW Iowa News describes testimony from Andersen and others at a Council Bluffs public hearing held by the Legislative Commission on Affordable Health Care Plans for Small Businesses and Families. The commission was created by the Iowa Legislature to make recommendations on how to improve health care access and affordability to all Iowans. Its final report is due to lawmakers next year.
“The quality of care provided to our family members, friends and neighbors in health and long term care settings directly relates to the stability of the workforce,” Andersen told the commissioners. “If we have a revolving door of people entering and leaving the field – in large part due to the lack of adequate and affordable health care benefits – the quality of care provided will never be what we want it to be.”
