NEWS

The Iowa Department of Health & Human Services (Iowa HHS) presented to the House Health & Human Services Budget Subcommittee on January 29, 2026.  You can view the 48-page slide deck from that presentation here. Here are a few takeaways:

•  Legislators questioned the nearly $52 million in cost containment that was included in the Governor's budget and requested more details.  In particularly they wanted to know how the state plans to save $28 million by moving all pharmacy claims in-house, save $6.5 million by passing provider taxes through the MCOs, and $20 million through unidentified cost containment.  You can see the major drivers of Medicaid costs on page 31 and the cost containment spreadsheet on page 32.

• Iowa HHS was asked about the cost of the HOME project, which is apparently built into the Medicaid ask for the next fiscal year.  The slides do not include costs, but do show the implementation timeline.  Reminder - you can comment on the HOME project until 11:59 p.m. on Friday, February 13.  Click here for more information and to submit comments.

• The REACH project timeline is included in the slides, but there is no detail on legislative asks required by the REACH agreement.  The state was sued by