An Iowa doctor is scheduled to testify before a Congressional hearing this morning that could change an important aspect of children’s health care. Dr. David Alexander, medical director of Blank Children’s Hospital in Des Moines, will testify on the “Family Opportunity Act,” which Senator Chuck Grassley has introduced in the Senate.Grassley says some parents have to refuse raises or new jobs because if they make too much money, their children would lose Medicaid benefits. Grassley says some families go to the extreme of giving up custody of a child just to enable that child to get the medical treatment he or she may need. Grassley, a republican, says the legislation was inspired greatly by a Red Oak woman who endured great hardships in trying to provide for her son who had a rare birth defect. Massachusetts democrat Senator Ted Kennedy is the bill’s co-sponsor. Grassley says it has wide bi-partisan support.
