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HF58 • 2026

A bill for an act relating to insurance coverage for the treatment of eating disorders.

A bill for an act relating to insurance coverage for the treatment of eating disorders.

Passed Legislature

This bill passed both chambers and reached final enrollment, even if later executive action is not shown here.

Sponsor
JONES
Last action
2025-01-15
Official status
Introduced, referred to Commerce. H.J. 61 .
Effective date
Not listed

Plain English Breakdown

Using official source text because the generated explanation was unavailable or could not be confirmed against the official bill text.

A bill for an act relating to insurance coverage for the treatment of eating disorders.

A bill for an act relating to insurance coverage for the treatment of eating disorders.

What This Bill Does

  • A bill for an act relating to insurance coverage for the treatment of eating disorders.

Limits and Unknowns

  • This entry is temporarily using official source text because the generated explanation could not be confirmed against the official bill text during the last sync.

Bill History

  1. 2025-01-15 Iowa Legislature

    Introduced, referred to Commerce. H.J. 61 .

Official Summary Text

A bill for an act relating to insurance coverage for the treatment of eating disorders.

Current Bill Text

Read the full stored bill text
House

File

58

-

Introduced

HOUSE

FILE

58

BY

JONES

A

BILL

FOR

An

Act

relating

to

insurance

coverage

for

the

treatment

of

1

eating

disorders.

2

BE

IT

ENACTED

BY

THE

GENERAL

ASSEMBLY

OF

THE

STATE

OF

IOWA:

3

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Section

1.

NEW

SECTION

.

514C.37

Eating

disorders

——

1

coverage.

2

1.

As

used

in

this

section,

unless

the

context

otherwise

3

requires:

4

a.

“Cost-sharing”

means

any

coverage

limit,

copayment,

5

coinsurance,

deductible,

or

other

out-of-pocket

expense

6

obligation

imposed

on

a

covered

person

by

a

policy,

contract,

7

or

plan

providing

for

third-party

payment

or

prepayment

of

8

health

or

medical

expenses.

9

b.

“Covered

person”

means

a

policyholder,

subscriber,

or

10

other

person

participating

in

a

policy,

contract,

or

plan

that

11

provides

for

third-party

payment

or

prepayment

of

health

or

12

medical

expenses.

13

c.

“Eating

disorder”

means

pica,

rumination

disorder,

14

avoidant

or

restrictive

food

intake

disorder,

anorexia

nervosa,

15

bulimia

nervosa,

binge

eating

disorder,

other

specified

feeding

16

or

eating

disorder,

and

any

other

eating

disorder

contained

17

in

the

most

recent

edition

of

the

diagnostic

and

statistical

18

manual

of

mental

disorders

as

published

by

the

American

19

psychiatric

association.

20

d.

“Facility”

means

an

institution

providing

health

care

21

services

or

a

health

care

setting,

including

but

not

limited

22

to

hospitals

and

other

licensed

inpatient

centers,

ambulatory

23

surgical

or

treatment

centers,

skilled

nursing

centers,

24

residential

treatment

centers,

diagnostic

centers,

laboratory

25

and

imaging

centers,

rehabilitation

centers,

and

other

26

therapeutic

settings.

27

e.

“Health

care

professional”

means

a

physician,

a

28

psychologist,

a

psychiatrist,

a

dietitian,

or

other

health

care

29

practitioner

licensed,

accredited,

registered,

or

certified

to

30

perform

specified

health

care

services

consistent

with

state

31

law.

32

f.

“Health

care

provider”

means

a

health

care

professional

33

or

a

facility.

34

g.

“Health

care

services”

means

services

for

the

diagnosis,

35

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58

prevention,

treatment,

cure,

or

relief

of

a

health

condition,

1

illness,

injury,

or

disease

including

services

for

mental

2

health

conditions,

illnesses,

injuries,

or

diseases.

“Health

3

care

services”

also

includes

dental

care

services.

4

h.

“Health

carrier”

means

the

same

as

defined

in

section

5

514J.102.

6

i.

“Treatment

plan”

means

a

plan

for

the

treatment

of

7

a

covered

person’s

eating

disorder

developed

by

a

health

8

care

professional

pursuant

to

a

comprehensive

evaluation

9

or

reevaluation

performed

in

consultation

with

the

covered

10

person

or

the

covered

person’s

representative.

The

plan

may

11

include

but

is

not

limited

to

cognitive

behavioral

therapy,

12

family-based

therapy,

group

cognitive

behavioral

therapy,

13

medical

nutrition

therapy,

prescription

drugs,

hospitalization,

14

day

treatment

programs,

residential

treatment

programs,

and

15

other

health

care

services.

16

2.

a.

Notwithstanding

the

uniformity

of

treatment

17

requirements

of

section

514C.6,

a

health

carrier

that

offers

18

individual,

group,

or

small

group

contracts,

policies,

or

19

plans

in

this

state

that

provide

for

third-party

payment

or

20

prepayment

of

health

or

medical

expenses

shall

offer

coverage

21

for

the

treatment

of

eating

disorders

including

all

of

the

22

following:

23

(1)

Health

care

services

pursuant

to

a

covered

person’s

24

treatment

plan.

25

(2)

Health

care

services

pursuant

to

a

covered

person’s

26

treatment

plan

that

are

provided

to

the

covered

person

27

out-of-network

or

out-of-state

if

such

health

care

services

are

28

unavailable

in

this

state

and

are

determined

to

be

medically

29

necessary

by

the

covered

person’s

health

care

provider.

30

b.

Coverage

required

under

this

section

shall

not

be

less

31

favorable

than

coverage

a

health

carrier

offers

for

general

32

physical

illness.

33

c.

Cost-sharing

requirements

imposed

for

coverage

34

required

under

this

section

shall

not

be

less

favorable

than

35

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cost-sharing

requirements

imposed

by

a

health

carrier

for

1

general

physical

illness.

2

3.

a.

This

section

applies

to

the

following

classes

of

3

third-party

payment

provider

contracts,

policies,

or

plans

4

delivered,

issued

for

delivery,

continued,

or

renewed

in

this

5

state

on

or

after

January

1,

2026:

6

(1)

Individual

or

group

accident

and

sickness

insurance

7

providing

coverage

on

an

expense-incurred

basis.

8

(2)

An

individual

or

group

hospital

or

medical

service

9

contract

issued

pursuant

to

chapter

509,

514,

or

514A.

10

(3)

An

individual

or

group

health

maintenance

organization

11

contract

regulated

under

chapter

514B.

12

(4)

A

plan

established

for

public

employees

pursuant

to

13

chapter

509A.

14

(5)

The

medical

assistance

program

under

chapter

249A

15

including

all

managed

care

organizations

acting

pursuant

to

a

16

contract

with

the

department

of

health

and

human

services

to

17

administer

the

medical

assistance

program.

18

b.

This

section

shall

not

apply

to

accident-only,

19

specified

disease,

short-term

hospital

or

medical,

hospital

20

confinement

indemnity,

credit,

dental,

vision,

Medicare

21

supplement,

long-term

care,

basic

hospital

and

medical-surgical

22

expense

coverage

as

defined

by

the

commissioner,

disability

23

income

insurance

coverage,

coverage

issued

as

a

supplement

24

to

liability

insurance,

workers’

compensation

or

similar

25

insurance,

or

automobile

medical

payment

insurance.

26

4.

The

commissioner

of

insurance

shall

adopt

rules

pursuant

27

to

chapter

17A

to

administer

this

section.

28

EXPLANATION

29

The

inclusion

of

this

explanation

does

not

constitute

agreement

with

30

the

explanation’s

substance

by

the

members

of

the

general

assembly.

31

This

bill

relates

to

insurance

coverage

for

eating

32

disorders.

“Eating

disorder”

is

defined

in

the

bill

as

pica,

33

rumination

disorder,

avoidant

or

restrictive

food

intake

34

disorder,

anorexia

nervosa,

bulimia

nervosa,

binge

eating

35

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58

disorder,

other

specified

feeding

or

eating

disorder,

and

any

1

other

eating

disorder

contained

in

the

most

recent

edition

of

2

the

diagnostic

and

statistical

manual

of

mental

disorders

as

3

published

by

the

American

psychiatric

association.

4

The

bill

requires

a

policy,

contract,

or

plan

providing

for

5

third-party

payment

or

prepayment

of

health

or

medical

expenses

6

to

provide

coverage

for

health

care

services

(services)

7

pursuant

to

a

covered

person’s

treatment

plan

(plan),

and

8

services

pursuant

to

a

covered

person’s

plan

that

are

provided

9

to

the

covered

person

out-of-network

or

out-of-state

if

such

10

services

are

unavailable

in

this

state

and

are

determined

11

to

be

medically

necessary

by

the

covered

person’s

health

12

care

provider.

“Treatment

plan”

is

defined

in

the

bill

13

as

a

plan

for

the

treatment

of

a

covered

person’s

eating

14

disorder

developed

by

a

health

care

professional

pursuant

15

to

a

comprehensive

evaluation

or

reevaluation

performed

in

16

consultation

with

the

covered

person

or

the

covered

person’s

17

representative.

The

plan

may

include

but

is

not

limited

to

18

cognitive

behavioral

therapy,

family-based

therapy,

group

19

cognitive

behavioral

therapy,

medical

nutrition

therapy,

20

prescription

drugs,

hospitalization,

day

treatment

programs,

21

residential

treatment

programs,

and

other

health

care

services.

22

The

bill

applies

to

third-party

payment

providers

enumerated

23

in

the

bill,

including

the

medical

assistance

program

(program)

24

under

Code

chapter

249A

and

managed

care

organizations

acting

25

pursuant

to

a

contract

with

the

department

of

health

and

human

26

services

to

administer

the

program.

The

bill

specifies

the

27

types

of

specialized

health-related

insurance

which

are

not

28

subject

to

the

bill.

29

The

commissioner

of

insurance

is

required

to

adopt

rules

to

30

administer

the

bill.

31

The

bill

applies

to

third-party

payment

provider

contracts,

32

policies,

or

plans

delivered,

issued

for

delivery,

continued,

33

or

renewed

in

this

state

on

or

after

January

1,

2026.

34

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