A bill that would make several changes to public assistance programs advanced through an Iowa House subcommittee Wednesday over the objections of people who said it would result in more babies going hungry.
Under the bill (HSB 696), mothers in the U.S. without legal status and some lawfully present immigrants would be barred from WIC, a federally-funded food assistance program for pregnant and postpartum women, babies and kids under the age of 5. The program provides food, formula, breastfeeding support and other family services.
Kathy Underhill, CEO of the Des Moines Area Religious Council, which runs a food pantry network in central Iowa, said the bill would result in malnourished babies.
“I see it every day, like the crying 4-day-old preemie I met in our pantry waiting room on a 5 degree day,” she said. “This legislation will lead to more babies at more pantries that we may or may not be able to help, because formula is $32 a can, and as a charity, we have a really limited budget.”
Chaney Yeast, a lobbyist for Blank Children’s Hospital, said WIC is 100% funded by the federal government.
“And so not only would we face newborns facing hunger, but that will actually add costs to the state, because we will see those babies in the health care system struggling,” she said.
Rep. Austin Harris, R-Moulton, said these restrictions based on immigration status are already applied to general food assistance, Medicaid and housing vouchers.
“This is nothing new,” he said. “So, Iowa is not going to be a sanctuary state for waste, fraud and abuse, and we are going to move this bill forward today.”
The bill also proposes requiring Iowans who apply for public assistance benefits to prove they have lived in the state for at least a year.
“This bill aims to protect the integrity and stability of these programs, to make sure that they’re focused on supporting Iowans that most need them,” Harris said.
Mary Nelle Trefz, a lobbyist for Iowa ACEs 360, said federal law prohibits durational residency requirements for Medicaid, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) and WIC, so that would only apply to child care assistance and the family investment program.
She also took issue with provisions in the bill to add new fees and cost-sharing for Iowans in the Medicaid expansion population.
“It would likely cost more to administer than it collects,” Trefz said. “And small fees are known to discourage timely care and push patients toward emergency rooms.”
The bill would require the Iowa Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to check the federal SAVE system to verify the immigration status of applicants for public assistance. State law already mandates checking applicants’ immigration status, and HHS uses SAVE to do that.
The bill would direct the state to seek several federal waivers related to SNAP. One would exempt kids’ income from the household income calculation used to determine eligibility, and another would require SNAP applicants to list the citizenship status of all household members, even those who are not applying.
Additionally, the state would have to provide quarterly reports on SNAP and Medicaid error rates, as well as an annual report on public assistance fraud in Iowa.
Bill would raise Medicaid income limit for employed people with disabilities
The bill would raise the income limit for employed people with disabilities who work but still need Medicaid-covered services from 250% of the federal poverty level to 300%.
People with disabilities have been advocating for changes to income and asset limits, saying the restrictions prevent them from advancing their careers and growing their families because they risk losing necessary health care services.
Zach Mecham of Pleasantville said the provision was “a very watered-down version of what we asked for, wedged between a lot of policy that’s going to harm so many other people.”
He said while people with disabilities prefer no income limits, the limit should be at least 400% of the federal poverty level. He added that the asset limits that would remain in the law make no sense.
“I think it’s an arbitrary limitation, and at the very least, Iowans with disabilities should be able to save enough to buy a house, to put a down payment on a house, to fix our very expensive vehicles,” Mecham said.
The bill is now eligible for consideration by the House Health and Human Services Committee.
