Advocate group for medical insurance plans to open Iowa office

A national organization that helps people cut through the red tape of medical insurance regulations is opening an office in the state. Retired Iowa schoolteacher Paula Kain got help from the Patient Advocate Foundation in a two-year battle with her insurance company to get coverage for cancer treatment. Kain, who was a teacher at Belmond-Klemme, says the experience that eventually led to a settlement with the insurance company was an eye-opener. Kain is donating 200-thousand dollars from her settlement to establish an Iowa office of the P-A-F, so others can benefit from their help. She says everyone needs and advocate to help in the process.Kain now lives in Iowa City. She was on hand in Des Moines today for the announcement of the Iowa P-A-F office. Foundation executive director Nancy Davenport-Ennis says the organization has offices in six other states. She says the Iowa office will help people who are struggling with their insurance companies. She says they help with the “business-related issues” of people’s health plans. She says a survey shows 50-percent of Americans don’t understand their health plan. Davenport-Ennis says the help is free.She says they have many attorneys who volunteer to help with the cases, but she says few cases result in lawsuits. She says 94-percent of their cases are solved through mediation, not lawsuits. The new office will open in Iowa in November of this year.