2025 Iowa Legislative Session Recap: A Strong Year for Aging Services
The 2025 Iowa legislative session brought a number of meaningful wins for aging services providers and the Iowans they serve. Thanks to strong advocacy and support from members like you, several important measures were passed that will directly benefit our field and strengthen care across the state.
This session was a positive step forward, and we're proud of the progress made. We’re grateful for the engagement and advocacy of our members, and we look forward to building on this momentum together.
- HF 1049
- FY 2026 HHS Appropriations Bill. Includes
- $20 million nursing facility rebasing/Medicaid rate increase
- Nursing facility reimbursement methodology review, consultation with LeadingAge required in bill, including
- A base-rate payment component.
- A quality assurance assessment pass-through component.
- A quality assurance add-on component, which includes a fixed fee payment and a quality-based payment.
- Nursing facility bed formula work group and
- Increase in personal allowance
- HF 310
- An Act relating to assaults on persons engaged in certain occupations including a health care provider and making penalties applicable.
- This bill relates to assaults on persons engaged in certain occupations including a health care provider.
- The bill amends the definition of “health care provider” to include a person who is working, volunteering, or participating in an educational course of instruction at a hospital or rural emergency hospital.
- An assault on a health care provider can result in penalties including a serious misdemeanor, an aggravated misdemeanor, or a class “D” felony. A serious misdemeanor is punishable by confinement for no more than one year and a fine of at least $430 but not more than $2,560. An aggravated misdemeanor is punishable by confinement for no more than two years and a fine of at least $855 but not more than $8,540. A class “D” felony is punishable by confinement for no more than five years and a fine of at least $1,025 but not more than $10,245.
- LeadingAge Iowa added an amendment to make this bill inclusive of the nursing facility setting.
- HF 532
- An Act enacting the dietitian licensure compact to facilitate interstate practice of dietetics with the goal of improving public access to dietetics services. This compact preserves the regulatory authority of states to protect public health and safety through the current system of state licensure, while also providing for licensure portability through a compact privilege granted to qualifying professionals.
- HF 309
- A bill for an act relating to the review by the department of inspections, appeals, and licensing of certain deficient practices by nursing facilities.
- This is a narrow clean-up bill that originated from DIAL. Senate Democrats attempted to use the bill as a vehicle for four amendments related to nursing facilities:
- Require one unannounced inspection annually at all nursing facilities
- Allow electronic monitoring
- Prohibit private equity firms and other similar entities from purchasing nursing facilities and
- Allow nursing facility residents to participate in DIAL review of immediate jeopardy allegations.
- The first three amendments were declared not germane to the bill, and no vote was taken. The fourth amendment was defeated in a party-line vote.
- SF 592
- A bill for an act relating to county and city regulation of accessory dwelling units, providing that a county shall allow a minimum of one accessory dwelling unit on the same lot as a single-family residence in accordance with certain conditions.
- HF 972 (SF 618)
- An act relating to health care, including a funding model for the rural health care system; the elimination of several healthcare-related award, grant, residency, and fellowship programs; establishment of a healthcare professional incentive program; Medicaid graduate medical education; the health facilities council; and the Iowa health information network, making appropriations, and including effective date provisions.
- The bill proposes overhauling Iowa's loan repayment programs to lure more health care professionals to underserved areas and drawing down more federal funding to expand Iowa’s medical residency training programs. It directs the Iowa Department of Health and Human Services to request federal approval to establish a “hub-and-spoke” funding model across Iowa’s rural health care systems.
- HF 757 (SF 620)
- A bill for an act relating to matters under the purview of the department of health and human services, including administrative services organizations, child foster care, child and dependent adult abuse, internal audit and examination information, and the region incentive fund in the mental health and disability services regional service fund, health maintenance organization's premium tax, and making appropriations and including effective date and retroactive applicability provisions.
- In the child and dependent adult abuse sections, the bill clarifies and updates definitions of abuse and exploitation, particularly for dependent adults, and adjusts confidentiality rules for abuse-related information. The bill also establishes confidentiality protections for internal department audits and examination information, and creates provisions for transferring funds and ensuring continuity of care as Iowa transitions from a mental health and disability services system to a behavioral health services system. Additionally, the bill adjusts the premium tax percentage for health maintenance organizations contracting with the state's Medicaid program. The legislation includes multiple technical amendments to existing statutes, aimed at clarifying language, expanding definitions, and improving administrative processes across various health and human services programs.
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Bills defeated
- HF 664- Electronic Monitoring in Nursing Facilities
- SF 539- Establishment of Long-Term Care Facility Safety Council in Iowa
- SF 533- Prohibition of Ownership Changes in Nursing Facilities by Private Equity and REITs
- SF 535- Iowa Nursing Facility Change of Ownership Regulation Enhancement
- SF 536- Appropriation for Long-Term Care Ombudsman Office
- SF 537- Iowa Electronic Monitoring in Nursing Facilities Act
- SF 532- Iowa Health Care Facilities Regulation and Compliance Act
- SF 526- Nursing Facility Revenue Requirements Act
- SF 530- Iowa Direct Care Worker Wage and Support Legislation
- SF 538- Establishment of a Working Group on Nursing Home Medicaid Payment Recovery
- SF 534- Iowa Long-Term Care Options and Reimbursement Act
- SF 527- Iowa Nursing Facility Staffing Requirements Act
- SF 529- Nursing Facility Cost Reporting and Affidavit Requirement
- SF 531- Amendments to Nursing Facilities Financial Reporting Requirements
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