Iowa House passes bill to raise premium tax on HMOs to fill Medicaid shortfall

By: Robin Opsahl

Outlets: Iowa Capital Dispatch

Published: March 19, 2026

Words: 1,625

Last Updated: 1 day, 13 hours ago

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The Iowa House passed a bill Thursday retroactively bumping the premium tax rate for health maintenance organizations to make up for a Medicaid budget shortfall — a move Democrats and insurers said would raise health care costs for all Iowans but Republicans argued was needed to draw down federal funding.

House File 2739, approved on a narrow 53-40 vote, would increase the tax on HMOs from 0.925% to 3.5% from Jan. 1 and Sept. …

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