Governor Terry Branstad has approved a new state requirement that Iowa teenagers get the meningitis vaccination before enrolling in school. It’s one of the actions Branstad took Friday, in completing his review of all the bills that cleared the 2016 Iowa legislature.

Iowa students will have to show they’ve been vaccinated against meningitis before they can enroll in the 7th and 12th grades. Branstad says he visited with medical experts and people who have had relatives die of meningitis and became “convinced” this new requirement “will save lives.” As with all required vaccinations, though, Iowa parents may seek an exemption due to religious or medical reasons.

The meningitis vaccination requirement was included in a massive budget bill that also outlined a series of new oversight measures for the state-run Medicaid program. Critics in the legislature said the new steps were necessary after Branstad ordered the half a million Iowa Medicaid patients into privately-run “managed care” plans.

Branstad says he was “proud” to approve “every one” of the new oversight measures. He says it will make Iowa’s Medicaid system “one of the most transparent, accountable and outcome focused” programs in the country.

(Radio Iowa)