DES MOINES – Thanks to an investigation by the Des Moines Register that showed some Iowa lawmakers were getting health care on the cheap, those elected individuals will be paying closer to their fair share.
Senate File 230 will reduce General Fund expenditures by an estimated $235,000 in FY 2018 and $470,000 annually beginning with FY 2019. The payments by the members and full-time employees of the General Assembly for their health care insurance coverage will increase by a like amount.
This bill specifies that all members and full-time employees of the General Assembly (Participants) can only select from the State group health insurance plans offered to noncontract employees of the Executive Branch, excluding those offered specifically to employees of the Board of Regents. Payment amounts for State group health insurance are required to be on the same basis as that of the specified noncontract employees.
A Des Moines Register investigation published in February uncovered the loophole that some legislators were taking advantage of.
“Lawmakers are reaping the benefits of nonunion plans but paying the much cheaper union employee price,” the Register uncovered.
DATABASE: Here’s what lawmakers pay for health insurance
The act was approved by the General Assembly on April 4, 2017, and signed by the Governor on April 12, 2017.