Iowa Senate Passes Health Care Expansion Legislation Without Mandate

The Iowa Senate on Monday voted 42-6 to approve a bill (HF 2539) that would expand Hawk-I coverage to tens of thousands more children, the Des Moines Register reports. Hawk-I is the state's version of SCHIP. The legislation would increase the income eligibility threshold from about $41,000 for a family of four to about $62,000. The expansion would cost an estimated $5 million next year and about $25 million annually by 2011. The bill also would allow young adult children to remain on their parents' health insurance, encourage the use of electronic health records and create a consumer advocate position in the Iowa Insurance Division. The measure does not include a mandate that all children have health coverage.

Details of the expansion would be determined by a commission, and the state Legislature would consider the recommendations next year. The bill now moves back to the House, which approved similar legislation in March (Leys, Des Moines Register, 4/8).