HF 2716 Iowa House · 2025-2026 Regular Session

A bill for an act relating to the supplemental nutrition assistance program; the medical assistance program; the special supplemental nutrition program for women, infants, and children; and other public assistance programs under the purview of the department of health and human services.

HF 2716 requests federal waivers to improve administration of Iowa's SNAP (supplemental nutrition), medical assistance, and WIC programs. It would require quarterly error rate reports for SNAP starting in 2026, allow exclusion of income for minors in school from household calculations, permit use of automated data (like unemployment records) for verification, and modify how payment errors are reported. The bill also adjusts medical assistance rules to disregard certain income for disabled individuals under 65 and mandates error rate reporting for medical programs. These changes aim to streamline eligibility processing and reporting for federal public assistance programs under Iowa's Department of Health and Human Services.
Bill status passed 3 of 5 stages cleared
Introduction
Feb 2026
Committee Review
Mar 2026
House Passage
Mar 2026
Senate Passage
Governor
Introduced Feb 24, 2026 Last action Mar 27, 2026
Maddy AI version diff · 1 comparison

What changed between versions

Introduced Reprinted · 9 edits
MAJOR
This bill updates Iowa's SNAP and Medicaid programs with new reporting requirements, expanded eligibility waivers, and a rural provider reimbursement increase. It modernizes how the state tracks payment errors, verifies applicant information, and manages benefit accounts while adding protections for young students and rural healthcare providers.
Scope change
The bill expands the scope of SNAP eligibility by excluding earned income for young students living with parents, and adds a new rural provider rate increase for home and community-based services waivers under Medicaid.
REQUIREMENT

New requirement for the Department of Health and Human Services to submit quarterly reports on SNAP payment error rates starting October 1, 2026.

New waiver allowing the state to verify applicant information using automated data sources including child support records, unemployment insurance data, social security records, and incarceration data.

New Medicaid reporting requirements for the General Assembly including annual reports on policy exceptions, their costs, and identifiable trends.

ELIGIBILITY

Waiver of earned income rules for SNAP applicants under 22 years old who are enrolled in school and live with a parent or guardian.

Change to expungement rules allowing SNAP benefits to be removed from electronic accounts after 3 months or 91 days of inactivity.

New SNAP reporting requirement allowing the state to report payment error rates based only on errors directly caused by the department, excluding third-party errors.

Medicaid eligibility expansion for individuals with disabilities under 65 with family income below 253% of poverty guidelines, including premium payment requirements for those exceeding 150% of poverty guidelines.

FISCAL

New provision increasing base reimbursement rates for rural healthcare providers offering home and community-based services under Medicaid waivers to cover travel time and expenses.

TECHNICAL

Formatting changes converting the bill from line-by-line legislative markup to a clean reprint format with proper spacing and page numbering.

Floor votes · House Mar 10, 2026

How they voted

6329
Passed · 7 other
Total votes 99
Mar 10, 2026
D Democratic32
1 Yea 28 Nay 3
87% Nay
R Republican67
62 Yea 1 Nay 4
92% Yea
Vote distribution
All Yea All Nay Mixed No data
Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions
14
Key actions
3
Committee
1
Amendments
5
Mar 11, 2026
Upper · Passed
Subcommittee: Webster, Trone Garriott, and Warme.
upper
Mar 10, 2026
Lower · Passed
Passed House, yeas 62, nays 30.
lower
Mar 10, 2026
Lower · Passed
Amendment H-8188 adopted.
lower
Mar 10, 2026
Introduced
Motion to suspend rules for immediate consideration of amendment H-8180, yeas 31, nays 62.
lower
Mar 10, 2026
Introduced
Point of order raised on amendment H-8180, ruled not germane.
lower
Mar 9, 2026
Introduced
Amendment H-8188 filed.
lower
Mar 9, 2026
Introduced
Amendment H-8180 filed.
lower
Feb 24, 2026
Introduced
Introduced, placed on calendar.
lower
0 primary · 0 co-sponsors

Sponsors

No sponsor information available.