Over 40 interested Iowans attended an evening conversation at Des Moines University. The conversation was attended by a variety of interested parties from the health care industry, community leaders, financial professionals and educators, among others. Divided We Fail collaborator and former Governor Terry Branstad also participated in the conversation. The group was broken into two separate conversations.

Education seemed to be a major priority for attendees at the conversation, which seemed fitting, given the location. People agreed that preventative health needs to be emphasized and financial literacy needs to be taught at a young age. There was agreement that children should learn about finances and saving in the classroom and from their parents, while adults should learn about saving and retirement options from their employers and financial services professionals.

There were a variety of ideas that were thrown around about how expand health care to cover the uninsured. One idea was to consolidate the industry, so there would be less competition and insurance pools would become larger. Another was to mandate health insurance, like auto insurance, so that employers and/or the government would take an increased role when necessary. There were also suggestions about the government “insuring” (to some extent) catastrophic health issues that would lead to financial ruin.

A common question posed was: How is the cost shared so it is fair and equal for all?