The civic record
Read. Follow. Verify.Iowa Senate File 2315 expands Medicaid eligibility for employed persons with disabilities up to 300 percent of the federal poverty level
Last action · February 24, 2026: Subcommittee: Costello, Donahue, and Warme. S.J. 392 .Sponsor: Dennis Guth
Track this bill to get notified when it advances a stage. One tap to stop, anytime.
What This Bill Would Do
Senate File 2315 expands eligibility for the by raising the family income limit to less than 300 percent of the federal poverty level. The bill also disregards unearned income, sets specific asset thresholds, and excludes retirement, pension, and medical savings accounts when determining resource eligibility.
Employed individuals with disabilities face updated financial criteria that allow higher household income limits and greater asset protections without disqualifying them from medical assistance. The measure establishes resource limits of $10,000 for individuals and $21,000 for couples while fully excluding retirement and pension accounts from the calculation.
- The Medicaid for Employed Persons with Disabilities program allows individuals with qualifying disabilities to earn income, build savings, and retain healthcare coverage through Medicaid by meeting specific income and resource thresholds. context
Who It Would Affect
Groups the bill's text would affect if enacted, as described in the record. Being affected is not a position for or against it.
Employed persons with disabilities
Individuals face modified income and asset thresholds, premium payment obligations, and new online payment options for Medicaid coverage.
Key Facts
- Raises the family income threshold for the Medicaid for employed persons with disabilities program to less than 300 percent of the official poverty guidelines.
- Requires unearned income to be disregarded when determining eligibility under the program.
- Disregards up to $10,000 of available resources for an individual and $21,000 for a couple.
- Excludes additional resources held in retirement accounts, pension accounts, medical savings accounts, or other approved accounts from resource calculations.
Show all 8 facts
- Mandates that individuals with incomes exceeding 150 percent of the poverty guidelines pay a sliding-scale premium, capped at a rate commensurate with state employees' group health insurance.
- Requires the department to maintain an internet page allowing individuals to electronically pay program premiums.
- Specifies that payment and acceptance of a premium does not automatically confer initial or continuing program eligibility.
- Directs that any premium paid that is later determined to be untimely or paid on behalf of an ineligible individual must be refunded, and unpaid premiums constitute a debt owed to the department.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the new family income limit to qualify for the program?
Are retirement accounts counted against my asset limit?
Do I have to pay a premium if I qualify?
What else do you want to know?
News Coverage
Follow the record
Votes, people, money & the original sourceWhere This Stands
Currently in committee. The next step in the legislative lifecycle is Floor Vote.
Procedural history
8 actions- Feb 24, 2026SenateSubcommittee: Costello, Donahue, and Warme. S.J. 392 .
- Feb 24, 2026SenateCommitteeReferred to Appropriations. S.J. 376 .
- Feb 19, 2026Iowa LegislaturePlaced on calendar.
- Feb 19, 2026SenateCommittee report, recommending passage. S.J. 334 .
- Feb 18, 2026Iowa LegislatureSubcommittee recommends passage.
- Feb 17, 2026Iowa LegislatureSubcommittee Meeting: 02/18/2026 8:30AM Room 315.
Show 2 earlier actions
- Feb 17, 2026SenateSubcommittee: Guth, Costello, and Trone Garriott. S.J. 304 .
- Feb 12, 2026SenateIntroducedIntroduced, referred to Health and Human Services. S.J. 272 .
Version history
Only one version on file - nothing to compare yet. As later stages (committee substitute, engrossed, enrolled) are captured, the redline appears here.
View official text →Lobbying Activity
No state lobbying filings in our records match this bill. Federal lobbying reports (LDA) cover Congress, so they are not listed on state bills.
Full breakdown
Who this bill affects and the strongest case for and against it, written only from the bill’s own text.
Sponsors
Discoveries
Patterns POLISCOPE noticed across the record. These are observations to investigate, not conclusions.
Expansion of Asset and Income Ceilings for Disabled Workers
The measure raises the qualifying income threshold to 300 percent of poverty guidelines and protects retirement and pension funds from being counted against resource limits.
Connected Entities
Sources
www.legis.iowa.gov
Analysis Score
0–100- Significance65How much this matters to a regular citizen
- Controversy20Intensity of disagreement among stakeholders
- Entertainment5Compellingness for a non-policy-wonk reader
- Buzz25Current news / social attention level
Publisher tools