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Iowa withdraws request to establish alternative insurance model

Modern Healthcare: Frustrated by the Trump administration's slow response, Iowa's Republican leaders have withdrawn their ambitious proposal to establish an alternative individual health insurance system to replace the Affordable Care Act's exchange marketplace.

State officials said the controversial changes proposed under their ACA Section 1332 state innovation waiver were necessary to make premiums more affordable for Iowans of all income levels and dissuade them from dropping insurance. That, they argued, would stabilize the market and reduce premiums by keeping healthier people in the risk pool to offset the costs of sicker people.

Otherwise, nearly 20,000 mostly healthy Iowans out of the 72,000 people currently in the ACA-regulated individual market were likely to drop coverage, which would drive premiums even higher, they warned.

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