HF 225 (LSB 1559YH (4) 91)

HOUSE FILE 225

BY  MADISON

A BILL FOR

An Act relating to the personal needs allowance under the medical assistance program.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF IOWA:

    Section 1.  Section 249A.30A, Code 2025, is amended to read as follows:
   249A.30A  Medical assistance —— personal needs allowance.
   1.  The personal needs allowance under the medical assistance program, which may be retained by a person who is a resident of a nursing facility, an intermediate care facility for persons with an intellectual disability, or an intermediate care facility for persons with mental illness, as defined in section 135C.1, or a person who is a resident of a psychiatric medical institution for children as defined in section 135H.1, shall be fifty seventy-five dollars per month.
   2.  A resident who has income of less than fifty seventy-five dollars per month shall receive a supplement from the state in the amount necessary to receive a personal needs allowance of fifty seventy-five dollars per month. The general assembly shall annually appropriate a sufficient amount from the general fund of the state to the department of health and human services for this purpose.
   3.  The department shall annually increase the personal needs allowance by the same percentage and at the same time as the federal supplemental security income and federal social security benefits are increased due to a recognized increase in the cost of living. The personal needs allowance shall not exceed two hundred dollars per month.
EXPLANATION
The inclusion of this explanation does not constitute agreement with
the explanation’s substance by the members of the general assembly.
   This bill relates to the personal needs allowance under the medical assistance program.
   The personal needs allowance covers a person’s personal expenses not covered by the medical assistance program. Current law provides that a person who is a resident of a nursing facility, an intermediate care facility for persons with an intellectual disability or mental illness, or a psychiatric medical institution for children may retain a personal needs allowance of $50 per month. A resident who has an income of less than $50 dollars per month shall receive a supplement from the state to receive a personal needs allowance of $50 per month. The bill increases the personal needs allowance to $75 per month and a resident with an income of less than $75 per month shall receive a supplement from the state.
   The bill provides that the department shall annually increase the personal needs allowance by the same percentage and at the same time as the federal supplemental security income and federal social security benefits are increased due to a recognized cost of living. The personal needs allowance shall not exceed $200 per month.