POLISCOPE
Back to bills
Part ofHealth and Human Services →

The civic record

Read. Follow. Verify.
SF 620IOWASession 2025-2026State BillSigned into law
Enacted

Iowa Overhauls HHS Programs, Adjusts HMO Taxes, and Appropriates Regional Funds

Original title: A bill for an act relating to matters under the purview of the department of health and human services, including administrative services organizations, child foster care, child and dependent adult abuse, internal audit and examination information, and the region incentive fund in the mental health and disability services regional service fund, health maintenance organization’s premium tax, and making appropriations and including effective date and retroactive applicability provisions.(Formerly SF 582 , SSB 1171 ; See SF 641 .)

Last action · June 6, 2025: Signed by Governor . S.J. 1053 .

Bill progressHistory & official text ↓
Introduced
Committee
Floor Vote
Passed
Law

Track this bill to get notified when it advances a stage. One tap to stop, anytime.

Public stanceCommunity reactions are separate from the official record and reporting.

What This Bill Does

Senate File 620 amends laws governing the Department of Health and Human Services, excluding employees from public retirement, updating child foster care and abuse confidentiality rules, appropriating funds for behavioral health system transitions, and adjusting the health maintenance organization premium tax percentage.

Why it matters

Changes rules and reporting requirements for foster care providers, updates confidentiality standards for child and dependent adult abuse records, modifies HMO premium tax rates, and directs unencumbered mental health funds into a new behavioral health fund.

Who It Affects

Groups the bill's text affects, as described in the record. Being affected is not a position for or against it.

Directly affected

Administrative services organizations

Employees are excluded from IPERS, and the organizations receive fund distributions for behavioral health services system duties.

Directly affected

Health maintenance organizations

Their applicable premium tax percentage for Medicaid managed care is modified for calendar years 2025, 2026, and 2027 and subsequent years.

Directly affected

Child foster care providers

Definitions of licensees, foster family homes, and approval standards for relatives or fictive kin are updated.

Key Facts

  • Employees of an administrative services organization are excluded from the definition of employee under the Iowa public employees' retirement system.
  • Administrative services organizations and their officers or employees are prohibited from acting as a county's advocate for involuntarily hospitalized patients.
  • The bill defines 'fictive kin' and 'foster family home' within child foster care statutes.
  • Child abuse information and information obtained during assessments of dependent adult abuse reports are classified as confidential records not subject to public record laws.
Show all 7 facts
  • The bill appropriates an amount necessary from the region incentive fund to HHS for the fiscal year beginning July 1, 2024, to ensure continuity of care when transitioning to the behavioral health services system.
  • Unencumbered or unobligated moneys in the mental health and disability services regional service fund on June 30, 2025, are transferred to the behavioral health fund.
  • HMOs contracting with HHS to administer the medical assistance program pay a premium tax equal to the applicable percent of taxable premiums received, set at 0.95 percent for 2025, 0.925 percent for 2026, and 0.9 percent for 2027 and subsequent years.

Frequently Asked Questions

What changes for health maintenance organizations under this bill?
HMOs contracting with HHS to administer the medical assistance program will pay premium taxes based on an applicable percentage (.95 percent for 2025, .925 percent for 2026, and .9 percent for 2027 and later) instead of the previous flat 2.5 percent.
How are unencumbered funds in the mental health regional service fund handled?
Moneys remaining unencumbered or unobligated in the mental health and disability services regional service fund on June 30, 2025, are transferred to the behavioral health fund.
Are administrative services organization employees covered under IPERS?
No, employees of an are excluded from the definition of an employee for the purposes of the Iowa public employees' retirement system.

What else do you want to know?

News Coverage

No news coverage found yet. Articles are indexed twice daily.

Follow the record

Votes, people, money & the original source

Where This Stands

Current status: Signed into law.

Procedural history

57 actions
  1. Jun 6, 2025SenateEnrolled
    Signed by Governor . S.J. 1053 .
  2. May 23, 2025Senate
    Reported correctly enrolled, signed by President and Speaker, and sent to Governor. S.J. 1050 .
  3. May 20, 2025House
    Explanation of vote. H.J. 1223 .
  4. May 14, 2025House
    Withdrawn. H.J. 1219 .
  5. May 14, 2025House
    Withdrawn. H.J. 1219 .
  6. May 13, 2025House
    Withdrawn. H.J. 1155 .
Show 51 earlier actions
  1. May 13, 2025House
    SF 641 substituted. H.J. 1153 .
  2. May 13, 2025House
    Message from House. S.J. 986 .
  3. May 13, 2025House
    Immediate message. H.J. 1154 .
  4. May 13, 2025HouseFloor
    Passed House , yeas 91, nays 0. H.J. 1154 .
  5. May 13, 2025House
    Substituted for HF 1042 . H.J. 1153 .
  6. May 12, 2025HouseIntroduced
    Read first time, passed on file. H.J. 1117 .
  7. May 9, 2025HouseIntroduced
    Introduced, placed on Ways and Means calendar. H.J. 1111 .
  8. May 9, 2025Iowa Legislature
    Committee report approving bill, renumbered as HF 1042 .
  9. May 8, 2025House
    Committee vote: Yeas, 19. Nays, 0. Excused, 6 H.J. 1114 .
  10. May 8, 2025House
    Committee report, recommending amendment and passage. H.J. 1114 .
  11. Apr 30, 2025House
    Message from Senate. H.J. 1079 .
  12. Apr 29, 2025Senate
    Immediate message. S.J. 928 .
  13. Apr 29, 2025SenateFloor
    Passed Senate , yeas 48, nays 0. S.J. 926 .
  14. Apr 29, 2025SenateFloor
    Amendment S-3140 filed, adopted. S.J. 926 .
  15. Apr 23, 2025Senate
    Committee report, approving bill. S.J. 882 .
  16. Apr 23, 2025SenateIntroduced
    Introduced, placed on Appropriations calendar. S.J. 880 .
  17. Apr 23, 2025Senate
    Committee report approving bill, renumbered as SF 641 . S.J. 882 .
  18. Apr 17, 2025HouseIntroduced
    Introduced, referred to Ways and Means. H.J. 985 .
  19. Apr 17, 2025Iowa Legislature
    Committee report approving bill, renumbered as HF 1014 .
  20. Apr 16, 2025House
    Committee vote: Yeas 23. Nays, 1. Excused, 1. H.J. 950 .
  21. Apr 16, 2025House
    Committee report, recommending passage. H.J. 950 .
  22. Apr 16, 2025Iowa Legislature
    Subcommittee recommends passage.
  23. Apr 15, 2025Senate
    Subcommittee Meeting: 04/16/2025 11:00AM Senate Lounge.
  24. Apr 15, 2025Senate
    Subcommittee: Costello, Donahue, and Warme. S.J. 801 .
  25. Apr 10, 2025SenateCommittee
    Referred to Appropriations. S.J. 757 .
  26. Apr 8, 2025Senate
    Committee report approving bill, renumbered as SF 620 . S.J. 736 .
  27. Apr 8, 2025Senate
    Committee report, approving bill. S.J. 736 .
  28. Apr 8, 2025SenateIntroduced
    Introduced, placed on Ways and Means calendar. S.J. 735 .
  29. Mar 19, 2025Iowa Legislature
    Subcommittee recommends amendment and passage.
  30. Mar 19, 2025Iowa Legislature
    Subcommittee recommends amendment and passage.
  31. Mar 18, 2025Iowa Legislature
    Subcommittee Meeting: 03/19/2025 1:00PM Room 315.
  32. Mar 18, 2025Senate
    Subcommittee reassigned: Klimesh, Rowley, and Townsend. S.J. 567 .
  33. Mar 18, 2025House
    Subcommittee Meeting: 03/19/2025 8:30AM House Lounge 2.
  34. Mar 17, 2025Senate
    Subcommittee: Klimesh, Petersen, and Rowley. S.J. 552 .
  35. Mar 17, 2025House
    Subcommittee: Meyer, A., Bergan and Brown-Powers. H.J. 677 .
  36. Mar 11, 2025SenateCommittee
    Referred to Ways and Means. S.J. 480 .
  37. Mar 10, 2025Senate
    Committee report, approving bill. S.J. 472 .
  38. Mar 10, 2025SenateIntroduced
    Introduced, placed on calendar. S.J. 462 .
  39. Mar 5, 2025HouseIntroduced
    Introduced, referred to Appropriations. H.J. 514 .
  40. Mar 5, 2025Iowa Legislature
    Committee report approving bill, renumbered as SF 582 .
  41. Mar 5, 2025Iowa Legislature
    Committee report approving bill, renumbered as HF 757 .
  42. Feb 26, 2025House
    Committee vote: Yeas, 18. Nays, 1. Excused, 2. H.J. 468 .
  43. Feb 26, 2025House
    Committee report, recommending amendment and passage. H.J. 468 .
  44. Feb 26, 2025Iowa Legislature
    Subcommittee recommends amendment and passage.
  45. Feb 25, 2025Iowa Legislature
    Subcommittee recommends amendment and passage.
  46. Feb 24, 2025Iowa Legislature
    Subcommittee Meeting: 02/25/2025 12:30PM Room 315.
  47. Feb 20, 2025Iowa Legislature
    Subcommittee: Klimesh, Costello, and Trone Garriott.
  48. Feb 20, 2025Iowa LegislatureIntroduced
    Introduced, referred to Health and Human Services.
  49. Feb 20, 2025Iowa Legislature
    Subcommittee Meeting: 02/26/2025 8:30AM RM 19.
  50. Feb 20, 2025House
    Subcommittee: Meyer, A., Barker and Brown-Powers. H.J. 407 .
  51. Feb 20, 2025HouseIntroduced
    Introduced, referred to Health and Human Services. H.J. 401 .

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

1 pattern noticed across the record

Patterns POLISCOPE noticed across the record. These are observations to investigate, not conclusions.

policy shift99% confidence

Transition of Funds to Behavioral Health Fund

Unencumbered balances in the mental health and disability services regional service fund are systematically redirected to the newly established behavioral health fund as part of system reorganization.

Department of Health and Human Services

Connected Entities

Governor, Department of Health and Human Services, General Assembly of the State of Iowa and 1 more
PersonGovernor“Signed the bill into law.”Map →
OrganizationDepartment of Health and Human Services“State department overseeing health and human services matters.”Map →
OrganizationGeneral Assembly of the State of Iowa“Legislative body enacting the bill.”Map →
OrganizationCOMMITTEE ON WAYS AND MEANS“Senate committee that introduced the bill.”Map →

Sources

Open source document

www.legis.iowa.gov

Analysis Score

0–100
  • Significance85
    How much this matters to a regular citizen
  • Controversy40
    Intensity of disagreement among stakeholders
  • Entertainment5
    Compellingness for a non-policy-wonk reader
  • Buzz25
    Current news / social attention level

Publisher tools

Share or embed this record

POLISCOPE publisher tools

Share or embed this record