Helena Hays Capitol Update – February 10, 2025
by Rep. Helena Hays
Week 4
Week 4 of the 91st General Assembly has simply flown by. As the session continues on, weeks can blur together as we go to subcommittees, committees, and on to floor debate. This week brought with it a somberness that we will carry with us for some time. Our colleague, Representative Martin Graber passed away unexpectedly last week and his funeral was on Tuesday. The House cancelled all business in order to honor him and support his clerk and beloved wife, Coni.
Committee Updates
Labor and Workforce
The Labor and Workforce Committee did not meet this week due to the shortened days.
Ag and Natural Resources Appropriations Subcommittee
Iowa Secretary of Agriculture Mike Naig presented to our appropriations subcommittee this week. It was an honor to have him and hear the update on the state of agriculture in Iowa.
Veterans Affairs
On Wednesday, Veterans Affairs passed HSB 28 out of committee. Under current law, the Iowa Department of Veterans Affairs is required to submit an annual report to the Governor and The General Assembly including the county commissions of veterans affairs’ training compliance and hour of veterans’ services provided during the previous calendar year. This bill requires the information in the report to be from the previous fiscal calendar year. It also requires an executive director or administrator of a county commission of veteran affairs to meet continuing education requirements established by the commandant of the Iowa Department of Veterans Affairs and removes the requirements established by the Commandant of the Iowa Department of Veterans Affairs and removes the requirement that an executive director administrator meet the continuing education requirements of the National Association of County Veterans Service Officers.
Education
Education met on Thursday and we passed three bills out of the committee. As the session moves on, you will see the pace pick up and we will be moving many more bills out of a committee each time. Check out the bills that passed out of House Education this week here!
Photo Recap of the Week!
The Catholic Conference of Iowa held a legislative breakfast this Wednesday. I met with the bishop of the Diocese of Davenport, Bishop Dennis Walsh, who was one of Iowa’s four bishops in attendance. He only recently took on this role and serves the large population of Catholics numbering 83,438 in southeast Iowa.
Wednesday was also Pharmacy Day on the Hill which brought in crowds of young students in their white lab coats and dozens of pharmacy owners from across the state, including John Nicholson of Oskaloosa (middle) and John Forbes, (right) former State Representative who retired last year. This year’s pharmacy bill introduced in the House is much meaningful than last year’s because it includes something akin to a “NADAC+.”
Because this is such an important topic for Oskaloosa as the community rallies behind Mahaska Drug, I am sharing below a review of why the existing PBM threat could potentially shut down our only privately owned, community pharmacy.
Let’s begin by identifying those involved:
1. The insurance company. They provide the health insurance to a business, county, or other entity. Blue Cross/Blue Shield is an example of one of the largest health insurance companies in Iowa and the company that state employees, like myself, are insured under.
2. The pharmacy. Iowa has only about 250 independently owned pharmacies left. Many independent pharmacies have been bought up or replaced by large, chain stores such as CVC and Hy-Vee over the last decade.
3. The Pharmacy Benefit Manager (PBM). They are a third-party company that functions as a middleman between the insurance company and the pharmacy. They exist to manage the cost of prescription drugs for the insurance company, employee and health care plans.
Last year, legislators were told that if Iowa law required PBM’s to pay what is known as the “NADAC reimbursement cost,” the action would force insurance companies to raise their premiums. This argument is addressed in a video I am attaching below. If you are compelled to further understand this issue, please watch the roundtable discussion. You can go directly to comments made about PBMs at around the 20-minute mark or so.
However, the 2024 legislation had never gone far enough or been strong enough to be fair towards independent pharmacies. Thankfully, Mahaska Drug has been able to hold on to their business during this time, but things must change. I received well over 150 emails just from Mahaska County alone during last year’s session and with each personalized email to me, I kindly replied with a reminder to everyone that much work would need to be done in the Senate on this topic. I once again ask you to place the necessary pressure in the right place in order for this piece of legislation to NOT be watered-down, be taken up by the Senate, voted out of the chamber, and sent the Govenor’s desk.
A simple phone call by which you can leave a voice will suffice quite nicely. Mention your name, where you are from, return contact information, and who should receive your voicemail when you leave the message. Mahaska County is shared between Senator Dickey, (Oskaloosa and rural) and Senator Rozenboom (western four townships.)
