New Iowa Law Allows Plans that Skirt ACA

Iowa will allow people to buy a cheaper form of health insurance that skirts Affordable Care Act rules, under legislation signed into law Monday by the state’s Republican governor.

The law will allow Iowa’s Farm Bureau to partner with a designated insurance company to offer so-called health benefit plans that technically aren’t defined as insurance. The plans, which won’t be regulated by the state, aren’t required to cover “essential health benefits” like maternity care and mental health. They don’t have to offer protections to people with pre-existing medical conditions and can implement annul limits on coverage.

Premium Employers