Friday, April 9th at 5pm
124 S. Main St. Maquoketa

This closing reception of the Spring Landscape workshop will feature completed works from the workshop attendees as well as work by:

• Tom Metcalf
• Arthur Geisert
• Fred Easker
  
• Chuck Morris

Wine and refreshments will be served.

There are still spots available for this workshop. Call 563-652-9925 with inquiries.

The legislation designates Department of Veterans Affairs medical facilities and state veterans' homes as Health Professional Shortage Areas which allows the facilities to compete for National Health Service Corps fellows.  The program makes student loan repayments to doctors, dentists, and mental health professionals who pledge to practice in a Health Professional Shortage Area for at least two years.

"Making sure our veterans get the care they need also means making sure that health care professionals are available to help them.  This legislation gives our veterans facilities an opportunity to tap into a network of providers ready and willing to support our men and women who fought for our freedom," Grassley said.

Veterans facilities that apply to be designated a Health Professional Shortage Area must show a need for additional health care professionals.  Once designated, the facilities compete with other eligible sites to hire the National Health Service Corps fellows.  The legislation does not allow National Health Service Corps fellows to simultaneously receive scholarship or loan repayment benefits from other VA employee programs.

Grassley said that as more and more Iraqi and Afghanistan veterans seek health care, the VA needs to be prepared to handle an increase in patients.  "This legislation provides another avenue for the VA to get the personnel it needs to help our wounded warriors," Grassley said.

Grassley has also been pressing the VA for answers about its claims backlog.  A recent case before the Supreme Court revealed that VA decisions to deny veterans benefit claims are not only being overturned at a high rate, but that in as many as 70 percent of the cases, the VA's position is not even substantially justified.  Grassley said that the fact that VA decisions are overturned with this kind of frequency, meaning they were wrongly decided in the first place, is an indication of serious, systemic problems with the way the VA considers the benefits claims made by veterans.

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Includes Critical Medicare Reimbursement Language Secured by Braley

Washington, DC - Rep. Bruce Braley (D-Iowa) released the following statement today after voting to pass a package of fixes to the Senate Health Care Bill.  Saturday morning, Braley and a core group of other Representatives were able to achieve a major breakthrough in Medicare reimbursement policy that secured his vote for the bills.

"One of my biggest priorities has been fighting to fix unfair and inefficient geographic differences, and reform the Medicare system to one that pays Iowa's medical professionals for the high-quality, low-cost health care they currently provide. Early Saturday morning, we achieved a major breakthrough in reforming our Medicare reimbursement system.

"I'm proud to say that the House reconciliation package will finally fix these inequities, move us to a better reimbursement model that emphasizes quality over quantity, and help recruit well-qualified health-care providers to Iowa. These important changes will go above and beyond the Senate bill we passed Sunday, providing an immediate $800 million to address geographic disparities for both doctors and hospitals, as well as written guarantees from Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius for further action to reform Medicare reimbursement rates.

"This bill, paired with the Senate bill we passed on Sunday, will decrease health insurance costs, expand access to quality, affordable health care, improve reimbursements for Iowa medical providers and allow Americans to maintain their choice of health insurance. This legislation will provide much-needed relief for thousands of businesses in Iowa's First District and will reduce our deficit by more than $143 billion over the next 10 years and $1.2 trillion in the 10 years after that. After reading the bill, listening to my constituents and debating the bill's provisions in Congress, I'm convinced this legislation is good for Iowa."

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Washington, D.C. - Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA) today released the following statement detailing the benefits Iowans stand to gain from the comprehensive health reform bill passed earlier this week: The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act and The Health Care and Education Affordability Reconciliation Act, passed today by the U.S. Senate.  Once the reconciliation piece is approved by the U.S. House and signed into law by the President, Iowans will see a number of benefits illustrated below.  Earlier this week, the President signed The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act into law.  Harkin is Chairman of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee.

"The legislation passed by Congress this week looks to the future and means big things for Iowa's working families," said Harkin. "Comprehensive health reform eliminates the practice of denying coverage because of a pre-existing condition, lets kids stay on their parents insurance until age 26, provides tax relief for small businesses and provides a historic investment in prevention and wellness to change our current 'sick care system' into genuine health care.

"The second proposal, passed today by the Senate, builds on the strength of comprehensive reform and includes provisions that boost college affordability.  For Middle Class families, one of the biggest challenges comes when their children reach college age.  The questions around the kitchen table are:  How do we pay for college?  And, in a couple years, our child will be too old to stay on the family's health insurance plan; what are we going to do?" continued Harkin. "This bill addresses these challenges head-on.  It allows adult children to stay on their parents' health insurance plan until age 26.  And it increases the maximum Pell Grant for college students from $5,550 in 2010 to $5,975 by 2017.  Starting in 2013, the grant will be indexed to the Consumer Price Index for five years.  Make no mistake, there is a lot at stake for America's Middle Class families in this reconciliation bill - both in terms of health care security, and in terms of access to an affordable college education."

Key Benefits for Iowa in the Health Reform Legislation

• Provide tax credits for up to 48,600 Iowa small businesses to help make coverage more affordable.

• Health reform will ensure that the 302,000 uninsured Iowans and 171,000 Iowans who purchase health insurance through the individual market have access to affordable health insurance options through state-based health insurance exchanges.

• Prohibit insurance companies from excluding coverage of pre-existing conditions for the 713,155 children in Iowa, starting this year.

• Close the "donut hole" and improve other Medicare benefits for 505,000 Iowa seniors.

• Each year, 89,700 Iowa seniors hit the Medicare Part D "donut hole."  Starting this year, seniors who hit this gap in their prescription drug coverage will receive a $250 check, and the "donut hole" will be completely closed by 2020.

• Reduce family health insurance premiums by $1,350 - $1,930 for the same benefits, as compared to what they would be without health reform by 2016.

• Starting this year, 300,466 young adults in Iowa will be able to remain covered by their parent's insurance policy until age 26.

• Create 5,600 - 9,000 jobs by reducing health care costs for employers.

• Provide more federal funding for 83 Community Health Centers in Iowa.

• Health reform will provide immediate access to quality, affordable health insurance for as many as 33,497 uninsured Iowans who are unable to obtain health insurance because of a pre-existing condition.