Warme

Week 11 at the Capitol brought an important step forward in stopping financial scams in Iowa. I was proud to floor manage House File 2232, which passed the Senate with bipartisan support. This legislation focuses on preventing financial exploitation, particularly for seniors, in the life insurance and annuities space.

The Iowa Insurance Division investigated 85 instances of senior financial exploitation in 2025, a 102% increase from the prior year, with scammers stealing nearly $20 million from Iowa seniors. The most common exploitation type is fake romance, and the biggest financial losses come when scammers impersonate tech support or government.

Our new policy gives insurance professionals more ability to step in when something doesn’t seem right. If there is a reasonable belief that a senior may be the target of financial exploitation, insurers can pause certain transactions while a review takes place. It also allows Iowans to designate a trusted third party, such as a family member, who can be notified if suspicious activity is detected. Just as importantly, it protects those who are acting in good faith to prevent fraud. This is about putting common sense safeguards in place and making sure bad actors don’t have easy access to someone’s life savings.

This bill is part of a broader effort to strengthen financial awareness and prevent scams. I want to highlight an upcoming Stop the Scammers event happening in Story County on May 13 in Ames. This event is a collaboration between the Iowa Insurance Division, AARP, and the Attorney General’s Office, and is focused on helping Iowans recognize scams and understand the resources available to protect themselves and their loved ones. Educational events like this are an important complement to the work we are doing in the legislature.

This week we also took up House File 2739, a bill dealing with Medicaid funding and the HMO tax. I have heard from many of you who are concerned about anything that sounds like a tax increase, and I share that concern. The reality is this bill is designed to prevent new costs from falling on Iowa taxpayers.

The “One Big Beautiful Bill” brought welcome relief like no tax on tips and no tax on overtime, which HF2739 makes permanent for Iowans. Other federal changes impacted how states finance their public assistance programs. Iowa is facing roughly a $200 million shortfall in Medicaid funding if we do nothing. HF2739 uses a federal tool to implement a 9-month, temporary tax on HMO plans to offset Medicaid costs, which is then matched by federal dollars totaling over $500 million invested in Iowa Medicaid for provider reimbursement. The increase is temporary and the premium tax will be set at the lowest rate in the nation at under 1 percent. This is a strategic bill to address health care costs in Medicaid, while we continue working on longer term solutions.

There has also been concern about how the HMO tax impacts insurers like Wellmark. It is important to put the scale of this in perspective. The temporary tax amounts to less than 1% of Wellmark’s reported $3.17 billion surplus. At the same time, while their tax burden has decreased in recent years, many Iowans have seen significant increases in their premium rates. This bill is a responsible way to manage Medicaid obligations while avoiding broader tax increases, and we will continue working to ensure impacts to consumers are minimized.

As always, my focus remains on responsible budgeting and policies that protect and support Iowans.

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Kara Warme, a Republican from Ames, represents District 26 in the Iowa Senate.