Iowa 2025-2026 Regular Session

Iowa Senate Bill SF618

Caption

A bill for an act relating to health care including a funding model for the rural health care system; the elimination of several health care-related award, grant, residency, and fellowship programs; establishment of a health care professional incentive program; Medicaid graduate medical education; the health facilities council; and the Iowa health information network, making appropriations, and including effective date provisions.(Formerly SF 575, SSB 1163.)

Impact

In addition to creating a new funding model, SF618 eliminates several existing health care-related programs, including the primary care recruitment and retention program (PRIMECARRE) and various loan repayment programs for health professionals. By withdrawing funding from these established programs, the bill is expected to shift financial resources toward a newly created health care professional incentive program aimed at recruiting and retaining health care professionals in underserved areas. This program is designed to provide financial incentives for eligible health care providers to work in designated high-need regions of Iowa.

Summary

Senate File 618, aimed at reforming Iowa's health care system, introduces significant changes through a variety of provisions focusing on improving health care access, especially in rural areas. The bill establishes a health care hub-and-spoke partnership funding model that seeks to enhance collaboration among health care providers in rural settings. This model is intended to ensure better and more sustainable health care delivery across the state, pending federal approval from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.

Contention

Despite its potential benefits, the bill has garnered criticism for eliminating programs that have supported health care professionals in rural communities. Opponents argue that the removal of established assistance programs may exacerbate the shortage of providers in these areas, limiting access to essential health services. They express concern that while the goal of increasing the health workforce is laudable, the method of reallocating funds away from successful programs may hinder rather than help the state's health care infrastructure.

Companion Bills

IA HF754

Similar To A bill for an act relating to health care including a funding model for the rural health care system; the elimination of several health care-related award, grant, residency, and fellowship programs; establishment of a health care professional incentive program; Medicaid graduate medical education; the health facilities council; and the Iowa health information network, making appropriations, and including effective date provisions.(Formerly HSB 191; See HF 972.)

IA SF575

Similar To A bill for an act relating to health care including a funding model for the rural health care system; the elimination of several health care-related award, grant, residency, and fellowship programs; establishment of a health care professional incentive program; Medicaid graduate medical education; the health facilities council; and the Iowa health information network, making appropriations, and including effective date provisions.(Formerly SSB 1163; See SF 618.)

IA HF972

Similar To A bill for an act relating to health care including a funding model for the rural health care system; the elimination of several health care-related award, grant, residency, and fellowship programs; establishment of a health care professional incentive program; Medicaid graduate medical education; the health facilities council; and the Iowa health information network, making appropriations, and including effective date provisions.(Formerly HF 754, HSB 191.)

IA HSB191

Related A bill for an act relating to health care including a funding model for the rural health care system; the elimination of several health care-related award, grant, residency, and fellowship programs; establishment of a health care professional incentive program; Medicaid graduate medical education; the health facilities council; and the Iowa health information network, making appropriations, and including effective date provisions.(See HF 754, HF 972.)

IA SSB1163

Related A bill for an act relating to health care including a funding model for the rural health care system; the elimination of several health care-related award, grant, residency, and fellowship programs; establishment of a health care professional incentive program; Medicaid graduate medical education; the health facilities council; and the Iowa health information network, making appropriations, and including effective date provisions.(See SF 575, SF 618.)

Similar Bills

IA HF754

A bill for an act relating to health care including a funding model for the rural health care system; the elimination of several health care-related award, grant, residency, and fellowship programs; establishment of a health care professional incentive program; Medicaid graduate medical education; the health facilities council; and the Iowa health information network, making appropriations, and including effective date provisions.(Formerly HSB 191; See HF 972.)

IA HF972

A bill for an act relating to health care including a funding model for the rural health care system; the elimination of several health care-related award, grant, residency, and fellowship programs; establishment of a health care professional incentive program; Medicaid graduate medical education; the health facilities council; and the Iowa health information network, making appropriations, and including effective date provisions.(Formerly HF 754, HSB 191.)

IA SF575

A bill for an act relating to health care including a funding model for the rural health care system; the elimination of several health care-related award, grant, residency, and fellowship programs; establishment of a health care professional incentive program; Medicaid graduate medical education; the health facilities council; and the Iowa health information network, making appropriations, and including effective date provisions.(Formerly SSB 1163; See SF 618.)

IA HSB191

A bill for an act relating to health care including a funding model for the rural health care system; the elimination of several health care-related award, grant, residency, and fellowship programs; establishment of a health care professional incentive program; Medicaid graduate medical education; the health facilities council; and the Iowa health information network, making appropriations, and including effective date provisions.(See HF 754, HF 972.)

IA SSB1163

A bill for an act relating to health care including a funding model for the rural health care system; the elimination of several health care-related award, grant, residency, and fellowship programs; establishment of a health care professional incentive program; Medicaid graduate medical education; the health facilities council; and the Iowa health information network, making appropriations, and including effective date provisions.(See SF 575, SF 618.)

IA HF2698

A bill for an act relating to and making appropriations for veterans and health and human services, including other related provisions and appropriations including but not limited to the personal needs allowance for certain persons under Medicaid and the state supplementary assistance programs, replacement generation tax revenues, the Medicaid fraud and health care trust funds, the retention of certain revenues by the mental health institutes, the retention of Medicaid eligibility by residents of mental health institutes, the scope of services of the state resource centers, the appropriation of moneys in the juvenile detention home fund, the family investment program account and diversion program, the child support collection services center refund account, the quality assurance assessment payment period, the centers of excellence grant program, an assisted living program revised payment model study, funding for county commissions of veteran affairs, foster care provisions including those relating to a relative or fictive kin, health care employment agencies and health care technology platforms, medical cannabidiol practitioner requirements, nursing facility oversight, and state-funded psychiatry residency and fellowship positions, providing penalties, and including effective date and retroactive applicability provisions. Effective date: 05/09/2024, 07/01/2024. Applicability date: 07/01/2022, 07/01/2023.

IA HSB248

A bill for an act relating to appropriations for veterans and health and human services and including other related provisions and appropriations including health policy oversight, public assistance program provisions and a public assistance modernization fund, sprinkler systems for home and community-based services waiver recipient residences, a state-funded family medicine obstetrics fellowship program and fund, adoption subsidy program nonrecurring adoption expenses, real estate transactions involving departmental institutions, providing penalties, and including effective date and other applicability date provisions.(See HF 724.)

IA HF724

A bill for an act relating to appropriations for veterans and health and human services and including other related provisions and appropriations including health policy oversight, public assistance program provisions and a public assistance modernization fund, sprinkler systems for home and community-based services waiver recipient residences, a state-funded family medicine obstetrics fellowship program and fund, adoption subsidy program nonrecurring adoption expenses, real estate transactions involving departmental institutions, providing penalties, and including effective date and other applicability date provisions.(Formerly HSB 248.)