SF 255 (LSB 2579XS (2) 91)

SENATE FILE 255

BY  WESTRICH

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 sixty-five dollars per month.
   2.  A resident who has income of less than fifty sixty-five dollars per month shall receive a supplement from the state in the amount necessary to receive a personal needs allowance of fifty sixty-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.  Beginning July 1, 2026, the department shall annually increase the personal needs allowance by a percentage equal to the percentage increase in the consumer price index for all urban consumers for the most recent twelve-month period published in the federal register by the United States department of labor, bureau of labor statistics.
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 $65 per month and a resident with an income of less than $65 per month shall receive a supplement from the state.
   The bill provides that beginning July 1, 2026, the department shall annually increase the personal needs allowance by a percentage equal to the percentage increase in the consumer price index for all urban consumers for the most recent 12-month period published in the federal register by the United States department of labor, bureau of labor statistics.