In a bid to help Iowa’s residents and small businesses, the Iowa Senate passed two health care bills that have now been sent to the Iowa Senate.
The two bills in question are the Senate File 2349, which would help create association health plans to offer group health insurance, and Senate File 2329, which would allow agricultural organizations to offer health plans to its members, according to the Des Moines Register.
“Iowa’s individual health insurance market changed drastically after passage of the Affordable Care Act in 2010. Insurance companies have left the state. Insurance premiums have skyrocketed to the point of becoming unaffordable for many. The individual insurance market is on the verge of collapse. Iowans have been asking us to provide solutions,” Sen. Charles Schneider said in the Des Moines Register.
According to Townhall, SF 2349 has gotten momentum thanks to President Trump’s executive order that outlines the administration’s goal of reducing federal regulations on small employers who form associations for only the purpose of providing affordable health insurance to their employees.
“Permitting additional sole-proprietors and small business owners to create association health plans would increase access to the variety of health insurance plans available in the large-group insurance market that are not available in the individual or small group markets. The larger risk pools, fewer regulations, and administrative savings readily available in the large group marketplace provide those fortunate enough to purchase plans in it to have access to reduced costs and more choices,” said Arianna Wilkerson in her Townhall editorial.
While SF 2349 will help small businesses across the industry spectrum, SF 2329 would specifically focus on agriculture. It would allow nonprofit agricultural organizations to offer their dues-paying members health plans that would not be called “insurance.” They would be administered by a third-party healthcare organization.
Iowa’s largest health insurance provider, the Wellmark Blue Cross and Blue Shield, is being considered by the Iowa Farm Bureau Federation as the administrator for the health plans to its members.
“The two bills advancing through the Iowa Legislature couldn’t come soon enough. The Kaiser Family Foundation analyzed 2018 marketplace premium rates and found consumers across the country are facing significantly higher rates this year,” Wilkerson said.
