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Read. Follow. Verify.Iowa requires work for health plan eligibility, creates IT fund, and expands Medicaid asset limits for couples
Last action · June 27, 2025: Explanations of votes. H.J. 1224 .
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What This Bill Does
Iowa requires the Department of Health and Human Services to seek federal approval to impose work requirements for the , creates a new information technology fund funded by repealed modernization monies, and disregards up to $21,000 in available resources for couples under the .
Low-income adults enrolled in state health coverage must meet employment conditions once federal approval is granted, while couples with disabilities gain higher asset allowances to qualify for medical assistance.
- The Iowa Health and Wellness Plan provides health coverage to low-income adults under the state's Medicaid program. context
- The Medicaid for Employed People with Disabilities program allows individuals with qualifying earnings and disabilities to maintain medical assistance while keeping limited assets. context
Who It Affects
Groups the bill's text affects, as described in the record. Being affected is not a position for or against it.
Iowa Health and Wellness Plan participants
Enrollees must satisfy work requirements to maintain health plan eligibility once federal approval is secured, unless they qualify for a specific exemption.
Medicaid for Employed People with Disabilities participants
Couples enrolled in the program benefit from a higher disregarded resource limit of $21,000 when determining eligibility.
Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program participants
Participants face aligned work rules and employment and training requirements coordinated with federal agencies.
Key Facts
- The department must request federal approval to add work requirements as a condition of eligibility for the Iowa Health and Wellness Plan.
- Individuals under 19, 65 or older, disabled, medically frail, caretakers of young children, pregnant with high-risk pregnancies, receiving unemployment, or in substance use treatment are exempt from work requirements.
- The department shall discontinue the Iowa Health and Wellness Plan if federal regulations exclude work requirements, subject to federal approval.
- The department of health and human services shall work with federal agencies to align rules and requirements for public assistance participants, including SNAP employment and training.
Show all 7 facts
- An information technology fund is created in the state treasury under the control of the department of health and human services for IT systems and modernization.
- Unobligated moneys in the public assistance modernization fund on June 30, 2025, are transferred to the new information technology fund, and section 239.11 is repealed.
- For the Medicaid for Employed People with Disabilities program, a maximum of $10,000 of available resources for an individual and $21,000 for a couple shall be disregarded.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who is exempt from the new work requirements for the Iowa Health and Wellness Plan?
What happens to the public assistance modernization fund?
What are the asset limits for couples under the Medicaid for Employed People with Disabilities program?
What else do you want to know?
News Coverage
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Votes, people, money & the original sourceWhere This Stands
Current status: Signed into law.
Procedural history
45 actions- Jun 27, 2025HouseExplanations of votes. H.J. 1224 .
- Jun 6, 2025SenateEnrolledSigned by Governor . S.J. 1053 .
- Jun 6, 2025Iowa LegislatureFiscal note.
- May 23, 2025SenateReported correctly enrolled, signed by President and Speaker, and sent to Governor. S.J. 1050 .
- May 20, 2025HouseExplanation of vote. H.J. 1223 .
- May 14, 2025HouseMessage from House. S.J. 1010 .
Show 39 earlier actions
- May 14, 2025HouseImmediate message. H.J. 1197 .
- May 14, 2025HouseFloorPassed House , yeas 56, nays 30. H.J. 1186 .
- May 14, 2025HouseFloorHouse concurred in Senate amendment H-1342 , yeas 55, nays 31. H.J. 1185 .
- May 13, 2025Iowa LegislatureFiscal note.
- May 13, 2025HouseSenate amendment H-1342 filed. H.J. 1178 .
- May 13, 2025HouseMessage from Senate. H.J. 1172 .
- May 13, 2025SenateImmediate message. S.J. 990 .
- May 13, 2025SenateFloorPassed Senate , yeas 33, nays 13. S.J. 988 .
- May 13, 2025SenateFloorSenate concurred with S-3059 , as amended. S.J. 988 .
- May 13, 2025SenateFloorAmendment S-3168 to S-3059 filed, adopted. S.J. 988 .
- Apr 22, 2025HouseExplanation of vote. H.J. 1034 .
- Mar 28, 2025Iowa LegislatureFiscal note.
- Mar 27, 2025HouseMessage from House, with amendment S-3059 . S.J. 656 .
- Mar 26, 2025HouseImmediate message. H.J. 850 .
- Mar 26, 2025HouseFloorPassed House , yeas 61, nays 35. H.J. 847 .
- Mar 26, 2025HouseFloorAmendment H-1198 adopted. H.J. 846 .
- Mar 26, 2025HouseAmendment H-1200 to amendment H-1198 filed, withdrawn. H.J. 846 .
- Mar 26, 2025HouseSubstituted for HF 948 . H.J. 846 .
- Mar 25, 2025HouseAmendment H-1198 filed. H.J. 815 .
- Mar 25, 2025HouseIntroducedRead first time, passed on file. H.J. 810 .
- Mar 25, 2025HouseMessage from Senate. H.J. 810 .
- Mar 25, 2025SenateImmediate message. S.J. 636 .
- Mar 25, 2025SenateFloorPassed Senate , yeas 33, nays 15. S.J. 635 .
- Mar 25, 2025SenateAmendment S-3054 filed, lost. S.J. 634 .
- Mar 25, 2025Iowa LegislatureFiscal note.
- Mar 24, 2025SenateCommittee report, approving bill. S.J. 621 .
- Mar 24, 2025SenateIntroducedIntroduced, placed on Appropriations calendar. S.J. 621 .
- Mar 24, 2025SenateCommittee report approving bill, renumbered as SF 615 . S.J. 621 .
- Mar 20, 2025Iowa LegislatureSubcommittee recommends passage.
- Mar 19, 2025Iowa LegislatureSubcommittee Meeting: 03/20/2025 11:00AM Room 217 Conference Room.
- Mar 12, 2025SenateSubcommittee: Bousselot, Costello, and Donahue. S.J. 507 .
- Mar 11, 2025SenateCommitteeReferred to Appropriations. S.J. 480 .
- Mar 10, 2025SenateCommittee report approving bill, renumbered as SF 599 . S.J. 472 .
- Mar 10, 2025SenateCommittee report, approving bill. S.J. 472 .
- Mar 10, 2025SenateIntroducedIntroduced, placed on calendar. S.J. 465 .
- Mar 3, 2025Iowa LegislatureSubcommittee recommends amendment and passage.
- Feb 25, 2025Iowa LegislatureSubcommittee Meeting: 02/27/2025 8:30AM Room 217 Conference Room.
- Feb 24, 2025SenateSubcommittee: Klimesh, Rowley, and Trone Garriott. S.J. 342 .
- Feb 18, 2025SenateIntroducedIntroduced, referred to Health and Human Services. S.J. 297 .
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.
Discoveries
Patterns POLISCOPE noticed across the record. These are observations to investigate, not conclusions.
Introduction of Work Conditions for Health Coverage
The legislation moves Iowa toward making work an explicit condition of eligibility for the Iowa Health and Wellness Plan, dependent on federal approval.
Modernization Fund Consolidation
Unobligated funds from the repealed public assistance modernization fund are redirected into a newly established information technology fund.
Connected Entities
Sources
www.legis.iowa.gov
Analysis Score
0–100- Significance75How much this matters to a regular citizen
- Controversy80Intensity of disagreement among stakeholders
- Entertainment10Compellingness for a non-policy-wonk reader
- Buzz60Current news / social attention level
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