The Iowa House has passed a bill making several changes to public assistance programs.
The state would consider all household income in deciding eligibility for food assistance, while excluding the income of high school students.
The bill seeks to eliminate retroactive Medicaid coverage with some exceptions. It also would raise the income limit for employed Iowans with disabilities to qualify for Medicaid.
Republican Representative Austin Harris, of Moulton, managed the bill’s passage.
On Tuesday, Harris said the bill cracks down on fraud while still helping the most vulnerable Iowans. The bill doesn’t include an earlier proposal to require the state to keep using private companies to manage Iowa’s Medicaid system
Democratic Representative Beth Wessel-Kroeschell said it is a harmful bill that would put up more barriers to accessing food and health care. The bill doesn’t include an earlier proposal to restrict food assistance for pregnant women and babies based on their immigration status.
It would require using the federal SAVE system to check the immigration status of applicants for public assistance.
Wessel-Kroeschell noted that food assistance participation is at an 18-year low in Iowa. She says that’s because it’s gotten harder to qualify for SNAP.
She said, “This is not a sign of success. It is a warning sign. If you care about families, you should be asking, why are we making it harder for people to put food on the table?”
