County may be on the hook to pay for some home health services as of 2026

By Zach Jensen,

Wednesday, October 9, 2024 4:31 pm

Winneshiek County Public Health Director Krista Vanden Brink talks with the county supervisors Monday morning. (Photo by Zach Jensen)

A change may be on the horizon in regards to how some of the county’s home-health clients pay for their services.

Winneshiek County Public Health Director Krista Vanden Brink reported to the Winneshiek County Board of Supervisors Monday morning that, in a couple years, a handful of clients who are currently paying for home-health services through the public health services contract, may become the county’s responsibility — rather than of Public Health’s. Winneshiek County Auditor Ben Steines indicated the potential change may be a result of the newly-consolidated Iowa Department of Health and Human Services.

Vanden Brink said Public Health currently serves five clients who earn too much to qualify for Medicaid but also can’t afford to pay $200 or more to pay for each home-health visit. She said some of those clients require home-health services once a week, while others might only use them once every other week.

“Right now, they’re at zero,” Vanden Brink said, “so they’re not paying anything, because we are billing that time and those visits to the local public health services contract, but in a couple years, that will go away, and all of our time will be spent on public health funds and activities. We have to figure out what to do with those individuals. They can’t just evaporate and go away.”

Vanden Brink said that per the Iowa Code, when the change takes place, the county will be required to pay for the home-health services for clients in that financial situation.

In other county business

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