135.152  Statewide obstetrical and newborn indigent patient care program.
  1.  The department shall establish a statewide obstetrical and newborn indigent patient care program to provide obstetrical and newborn care to medically indigent residents of this state at the appropriate and necessary level, at a licensed hospital or health care facility closest and most available to the residence of the indigent individual.
  2.  The department shall administer the program, and appropriations by the general assembly for the program shall be allocated to the obstetrical and newborn patient care fund within the department to be utilized for the obstetrical and newborn indigent patient care program.
  3.  The department shall adopt administrative rules pursuant to chapter 17A to administer the program.
  4.  The department shall establish a patient quota formula for determining the maximum number of obstetrical and newborn patients eligible for the program, annually, from each county. The formula used shall be based upon the annual appropriation for the program, the average number of live births in each county for the most recent three-year period, and the per capita income for each county for the most recent year. The formula shall also provide for reassignment of an unused county quota allotment on April 1 of each year.
  5.  a.  The department, in collaboration with the department of human services and the Iowa state association of counties, shall adopt rules pursuant to chapter 17A to establish minimum standards for eligibility for obstetrical and newborn care, including physician examinations, medical testing, ambulance services, and inpatient transportation services under the program. The minimum standards shall provide that the individual is not otherwise eligible for assistance under the medical assistance program or for assistance under the medically needy program without a spend-down requirement pursuant to chapter 249A. If the individual is eligible for assistance pursuant to chapter 249A, or if the individual is eligible for maternal and child health care services covered by a maternal and child health program, the obstetrical and newborn indigent patient care program shall not provide the assistance, care, or covered services provided under the other program.
  b.  The minimum standards for eligibility shall provide eligibility for persons with family incomes at or below one hundred eighty-five percent of the federal poverty level as defined by the most recently revised poverty income guidelines published by the United States department of health and human services, and shall provide, but shall not be limited to providing, eligibility for uninsured and underinsured persons financially unable to pay for necessary obstetrical and newborn care. The minimum standards may include a spend-down provision. The resource standards shall be set at or above the resource standards under the federal supplemental security income program. The resource exclusions allowed under the federal supplemental security income program shall be allowed and shall include resources necessary for self-employment.
  c.  The department, in cooperation with the department of human services, shall develop a standardized application form for the program and shall coordinate the determination of eligibility for the medical assistance and medically needy programs under chapter 249A and for the obstetrical and newborn indigent patient care program.
  6.  The department shall establish application procedures and procedures for certification of an individual for obstetrical and newborn care under this section.
  7.  An individual certified for obstetrical and newborn care under this division may choose to receive the appropriate level of care at any licensed hospital or health care facility.
  8.  The obstetrical and newborn care costs of an individual certified for such care under this division at a licensed hospital or health care facility or from licensed physicians shall be paid by the department from the obstetrical and newborn patient care fund.
  9.  All providers of services to obstetrical and newborn patients under this division shall agree to accept as full payment the reimbursements allowable under the medical assistance program established pursuant to chapter 249A, adjusted for intensity of care.
  10.  The department shall establish procedures for payment for providers of services to obstetrical and newborn patients under this division from the obstetrical and newborn patient care fund. All billings from such providers shall be submitted directly to the department. However, payment shall not be made unless the requirements for application and certification for care pursuant to this division and rules adopted by the department are met.
  11.  Moneys encumbered prior to June 30 of a fiscal year for a certified eligible pregnant woman scheduled to deliver in the next fiscal year shall not revert from the obstetrical and newborn patient care fund to the general fund of the state. Moneys allocated to the obstetrical and newborn patient care fund shall not be transferred nor voluntarily reverted from the fund within a given fiscal year.
2005 Acts, ch 167, §43, 66; 2013 Acts, ch 138, §116, 127; 2014 Acts, ch 1026, §30