The Governor’s Council on Brain Injuries met this morning, still upset by Governor Tom Vilsack’s veto of spending which would have benefited brain-injured Iowans. Bob Vander Plaats, chairman of the Governor’s Advisory Council on Brain Injuries, says the Governor was “misinformed.”He says the rationale for vetoing the money doesn’t coincide with anything else they’ve heard since.Vilsack “item vetoed” three-hundred thousand dollars to increase the payments for doctors who help rehabilitate patients with brain injuries. Vander Plaats, who owns a treatment center in Sioux City, says doctors turn away Iowa patients because reimbursement rates for out-of-state patients are higher. He says he’s disappointed the governor did not communicate with the people he set up to give him advice on the issue.Two weeks ago, Lieutenant Governor Sally Pederson said the administration vetoed the funds because the money could only be used at one or two facilities in the state. Pederson also said it would have gutted another program for mentally retarded or brain injured Iowans.
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