Section 511 of the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) is a law that started making changes. It made rules for people who work in jobs where they’re paid less because of their disabilities. Now, those people have to try to find better jobs where they’re paid the same as everyone else. Also, it made it tougher for young people with disabilities to start working in these lower-paid jobs.

In Iowa, a system called Managed Care was put in place. This system involves three main providers: Amerigroup, AmeriHealth Caritas, and United Healthcare. These providers are responsible for managing and coordinating healthcare services for people in Iowa.

United Health Care and Amerihealth Caritas decided to stop providing Medicaid services in Iowa. This meant that around 400,000 members who were getting their healthcare through these providers had to switch to other options. Most of them were reassigned to Amerigroup, while others were moved to a new Medicaid managed care organization (MCO) called Iowa Total Care. This sudden change caused a lot of confusion and chaos for both the members and the healthcare providers.

Census: Compared to many other states in the Midwest, Iowa has not been growing as quickly in terms of population over the decades, including the most recent period from 2010 to 2020. In simple terms, Iowa has not been at the forefront of population growth, and consequently, its labor force has not expanded as much as in other states.

COVID-19 Pandemic

The Great Resignation phenomenon led to a quit rate of 2.66% in Iowa. As more people quit their jobs, there was a growing need for hiring new employees. Iowa already had a consistently low unemployment rate, and the wages offered in the state ranked in the bottom 50% nationally. This combination increased the pressure on employers who were already struggling to find enough applicants for their job openings.

After thoroughly looking into the matter, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) found that there is a good reason to believe that the State of Iowa is breaking Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). They concluded that Iowa is not providing services to people with intellectual and developmental disabilities in the setting that best suits their needs and allows them to be as integrated as possible.

The U.S. Department of Justice and State of Iowa entered into a consent decree to address concerns about the conditions at Glenwood Resource Center. These concerns included allegations that the center violated the United States Constitution by permitting uncontrolled and unsupervised physical and behavioral experimentation, providing insufficient physical and behavioral healthcare, and failing to adequately protect residents from harm, including having inadequate safety measures and oversight mechanisms in place.

The transition period for meeting the criteria of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services HCBS (Home and Community-Based Services) Settings Rule has ended. This means that Iowa’s plan for enforcing the settings rule will now come into effect. The Settings Rule was established to make sure that all states guarantee that services provided to individuals with disabilities who live in the community meet certain minimum standards. These standards include promoting integration, access to community life, choice, autonomy, and other important protections for consumers.