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HF 2543 Iowa House · 2025-2026 Regular Session

A bill for an act relating to subacute mental health care facilities and services, and including effective date provisions.

HF 2543 updates rules for specialized mental health care facilities in Iowa. It requires facilities to create a written treatment plan within 24 hours of a patient's admission, eliminates a previous 10-day limit on stays, and prohibits insurance companies from requiring prior authorization for the first 15 days of care. The bill also mandates that insurers cover subacute mental health services and prevents discharges until a mental health professional confirms appropriate support systems are in place to prevent harm. Additionally, it establishes an electronic bed-tracking system for children's psychiatric facilities and adjusts facility staffing and bed capacity requirements to ease access.
Issues: ✓ HealthcareSupports HealthcareMandates insurance coverage for subacute mental health services, removes prior authorization barriers for 15 days, requires timely treatment plans, and prevents premature discharges - directly expanding access and protecting patient rights in ment...95% confidence
Bill status signed all 5 stages cleared
Introduction
Feb 2026
Committee Review
House Passage
Apr 2026
Senate Passage
Apr 2026
Signed into Law
May 2026
Introduced Feb 16, 2026 Signed May 2, 2026
Maddy AI version diff · 3 comparisons

What changed between versions

Enrolled → Enrolled with Governor's Action · 2 edits · May 2, 2026
MINOR
The bill was finalized by the Governor with no substantive changes to the text of the legislation itself. The primary difference between the versions is the addition of the Governor's signature and the official certification that the bill originated in the House, which is a standard procedural step to make the bill an official law.
TECHNICAL

Removed the raw line-by-line diff markup and page break indicators used for comparison.

Added the Governor's signature block and the formal certification statement indicating the bill originated in the House.

Floor votes · Senate Apr 1, 2026

How they voted

45–0
Passed · 4 other
Total votes 49
Apr 1, 2026
D Democratic15
14 Yea 1
93% Yea
R Republican34
31 Yea 3
91% Yea
Vote distribution
All Yea All Nay Mixed No data
Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions
20
Key actions
6
Committee
0
Amendments
3
May 2, 2026
Signed into law
Signed by Governor.
lower
Apr 13, 2026
Lower · Passed
Passed House, yeas 90, nays 0.
lower
Apr 13, 2026
Lower · Passed
House concurred in Senate amendment H-8281.
lower
Apr 1, 2026
Introduced
Senate amendment H-8281 filed.
lower
Apr 1, 2026
Upper · Passed
Passed Senate, yeas 46, nays 0.
upper
Apr 1, 2026
Upper · Passed
Amendment S-5145 adopted.
upper
Mar 31, 2026
Introduced
Amendment S-5145 filed.
upper
Mar 2, 2026
Lower · Passed
Passed House, yeas 89, nays 0.
lower
Feb 16, 2026
Introduced
Introduced, placed on calendar.
lower
0 primary · 0 co-sponsors

Sponsors

No sponsor information available.