(Radio Iowa) - The Iowa House has passed a bill to temporarily raise the premium tax on private companies that offer H-M-Os to Iowans as well as the three companies that manage Iowa's Medicaid program.
That nine-month-long maneuver would send 124 million dollars in federal matching funds to the State of Iowa to cover a deficit in Medicaid. Representative Shannon Lundgren a Republican from Peosta, says it's responsible budgeting and it's being done in many other states.
Representative Austin Baeth, a Democrat from Des Moines, says when property taxes go up, landlords raise the rent and companies pass tariff hikes onto consumders -- and this tax hike will cost Iowans who buy insurance. Lundgren says it will be a business decision if Wellmark passes the tax hike along to consumers after ending 2025 with a more than three billion dollar surplus.