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HF 972

A bill for an act relating to health care including a funding model for the rural health care system; the elimination of several health care-related award, grant, residency, and fellowship programs; establishment of a health care professional incentive program; Medicaid graduate medical education; the health facilities council; and the Iowa health information network, making appropriations, and including effective date provisions.

2025-2026 Regular Session

H.F. 972 creates a unified Health Care Professional Incentive Program and hub‑and‑spoke model to fund and recruit rural Iowa providers, replacing many existing programs.

NOBA: Final
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Bill Summary · HF 972

Summary — H.F. 972 (2025)

Status: Enacted (Governor signed May 28, 2025). Introduced March 21, 2025. Final NOBA June 18, 2025.

Purpose

H.F. 972 restructures Iowa’s rural health funding and workforce incentives. It (1) directs the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to seek CMS approval for a “hub‑and‑spoke” rural health partnership funding model; (2) abolishes several existing state health workforce award, grant, residency and fellowship programs; (3) creates a consolidated Health Care Professional Incentive Program and fund; and (4) eliminates the Health Facilities Council and makes related administrative, transition, and appropriation provisions.

Key provisions

  • Health care hub‑and‑spoke model (Division I, Sec. 1): HHS must submit a request to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services to approve a hub‑and‑spoke partnership funding model aimed at improving financial support and collaboration among regional rural providers. (This division is effective upon enactment.)
  • Elimination of existing DHHS primary care programs (Division II): Amends Code §135.107 and related sections to remove existing primary care provider award/repayment programs and modifies §135B.33. DHHS must continue loan repayments for contracts executed on or before Dec. 31, 2025, provided recipients remain compliant.
  • Repeal of College Student Aid Commission programs (Division III): Repeals Code §§256.221, .223, .224, and .225 (rural Iowa primary care loan repayment; health care professional recruitment; health care award; mental health professional loan repayment). The Commission must continue payments/awards for agreements/contracts entered on or before June 30, 2025, if recipients comply.
  • New Health Care Professional Incentive Program (Division IV; new §256.222): Establishes a single incentive program (administered by the College Student Aid Commission in coordination with HHS) offering two award types: loan repayment or income bonuses to recruit/retain eligible health care professionals. Eligibility rules bar participation by professionals currently or previously in certain eliminated programs.
  • Transition and fund handling: Creates dedicated accounts to hold encumbered/obligated moneys for existing contracts (no reversion; interest credited). Unencumbered/unobligated balances in the repealed programs’ funds are transferred into the new Health Care Professional Incentive Program Fund; remaining unobligated balances after all obligations are satisfied are deposited into that fund.

Who is affected

  • Rural hospitals and provider networks (targeted by hub‑and‑spoke model)
  • Health professionals who were or would have been eligible for eliminated loan‑repayment/award programs (physicians, nurses, physician assistants, mental health professionals, etc.)
  • Department of Health and Human Services and the College Student Aid Commission (administration/oversight changes)
  • Health Facilities Council (eliminated)

Timeline and procedural notes

  • Existing contractual obligations must be honored if entered on or before the specified dates (June 30, 2025 for commission programs; Dec. 31, 2025 for certain DHHS contracts).
  • Division I (hub‑and‑spoke approval) took effect upon enactment. Other transition provisions govern the timing of fund transfers and retention of encumbered funds until obligations conclude.
  • Enacted after House passage (95–1) and Senate passage (41–4); enrolled and signed by Governor May 28, 2025.

Compiled from official sources — confirm details with the bill’s official record.

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