No more $20 insurance for Iowa lawmakers?

Iowa lawmakers took the first steps Wednesday to fix an oversight that has allowed them to underpay on their government-provided health insurance by as much as $450 a month, potentially violating state law.

Senate File 212 specifically limits the benefits offered to full-time employees of the legislative branch to the same insurance plans and payments made by non-union employees of the state's executive branch.

The bill, which unanimously passed a three-person subcommittee Wednesday, was introduced this week following a Des Moines Register investigation that showed many legislators were paying $20 a month for their health insurance premiums.

Each lawmaker should be paying between $141 to $446 a month under a 1983 law that extends executive branch insurance plans to the legislative branch but requires they partake in the same plans as non-union employees.

Read more: http://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/news/investigations/2017/02/08/no-more-20-insurance-iowa-lawmakers/97638232/