Jason Clayworth

jclayworth@dmreg.com

Four years after Gov. Terry Branstad called on Iowa's 150 legislators to put some "skin in the game" by contributing to the state's healthcare costs, only eight have made any reimbursements for their government-provided health insurance, a Des Moines Register investigation has found.

In 2012, Branstad urged lawmakers to cover 20 percent of their premium expenses, urging them to pay at the same rate as most non-union state employees.

But few legislators have heeded Branstad’s call, and what few payments they have made largely have been inconsistent, according to data the Register obtained through Iowa’s public records law.

In total, eight current Republican lawmakers and one former Democratic legislator repaid the state $34,428 over the last four years, records indicate.

Lawmakers would pay more than $518,000 annually if all 133 who currently receive state health insurance contributed at 20 percent as Branstad has advocated — and as some contend is required by state law, the Register’s review of the records show.

Most lawmakers are instead paying $20 a month, many saving more than $3,700 annually, compared with the rate advocated by the governor.

Some lawmakers stopped writing personal checks to cover 20 percent of their premium expenses just months after Branstad's public call, the Register found.

Sen. Tim Kapucian, R-Keystone, for example, wrote a check for $848 in March 2013 but did not make any subsequent contributions, records show. Kapucian's health insurance costs the state $948 a month, but his premium is $20 a month.

He would pay $190 a month if he contributed the full 20 percent that most non-union state employees are required to pay. Kapucian did not return a call for comment this week.

The lawmaker who reimbursed the state the largest amount was Rep. Chip Baltimore, R-Boone, who has paid back nearly $8,600 to the state since 2013.

"I felt the public sector folks should be acting more like the private sector," Baltimore said of his voluntary health premium contributions. "I came" from a job "where I paid a portion of my healthcare premiums, and I just think it’s the appropriate thing to do."

But Baltimore’s biweekly paycheck deductions ended after a single $126 contribution last year, a termination he credits to administrative confusion. He acknowledged this week that he hasn't tried to restart his contribution.

A Des Moines Register investigation published last month showed that 133 lawmakers were being charged too little for their state health insurance, which could be a violation of state law.

Those revelations came as the legislature moved to scale back collective bargaining laws that allowed state workers to negotiate their benefits. Critics of efforts to curtail collective bargaining accused lawmakers of hypocrisy for receiving healthcare that was cheaper than they deserved.

Legislators have scurried to make a fix, clarifying state law to make their contributions match non-union premium payments, in effect requiring them to pay at the 20 percent rate.

However, those higher contributions as outlined in Senate File 230 wouldn't begin until January 2018. The bill has yet to pass the House.

Des Moines resident Roger Munns said he gives lawmakers the benefit of the doubt that they might not have realized they were getting their insurance at an "erroneously low" rate.

But Munns, a former spokesman for the Iowa Department of Human Services, said he believes they should be made to reimburse the state and immediately pay the 20 percent rate.

"You know, if a poor person had received a government benefit that wasn't prescribed by law, there would be howls and people would be furious," Munns said. "There should be the same outrage for lawmakers who didn't pay the right amount."

At one time, union and non-union state employees generally paid no health insurance premiums. But Branstad pushed in 2012 for state employees to share the rising cost of health insurance.

Starting last year, union employees generally began paying $20 a month, while non-union employees began paying 20 percent of health plan costs.

The state does give a $111 monthly discount on health insurance premiums for non-union employees who participate in a wellness program designed to prevent long-term illnesses.

DATABASE: Here's what lawmakers pay for health insurance

Branstad and Lt. Gov. Kim Reynolds both pay 20 percent of the state’s costs for their insurance, records show. (Branstad pays $223 a month for his plan, and Reynolds pays $31. Each receives the $111 wellness discount.)

Branstad has argued that employees who contribute to their medical care expenses and have incentives to partake in healthy activities or assessments have "teeth in the game" that ultimately will help reduce state costs.

It’s a model Branstad wants all state employees — including those in unions — to participate in, his spokesman, Ben Hammes, said this week.

The Register on Wednesday sought comment from multiple House and Senate majority leaders who receive health insurance through the state and had not made voluntary payments.

Senate President Jack Whitver of Ankeny, Senate Majority Leader Bill Dix of Shell Rock, House Majority Leader Chris Hagenow of Windsor Heights and House Speaker ProTem Matt Windschitl of Missouri Valley did not return requests for comment.

A spokesman for House Speaker Linda Upmeyer also did not return a call for comment. Hagenow, Upmeyer and Whitver pay $20 a month, while Dix and Windschitl are on plans where they pay $333, records show.

Senate Majority Whip Charles Schneider, R-West Des Moines, said he was aware of the cheap insurance when he ran for office in 2012 but purposely opted out of the state plans because "I didn't think it was right."

Schneider declined to say whether he is disappointed that more of his peers haven't made voluntary contributions as requested by Branstad.

"They made their own decisions, and I made mine," he said. "I'm not going to comment on what they did. Their constituents can contact them and ask about it."

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Voluntary payments

These nine lawmakers reimbursed the state some money for their health care premium expenses since 2013. No current lawmakers have contributed 20 percent of the state’s costs for their insurance that is paid by Gov. Terry Branstad, Lt. Gov. Kim Reynolds and most non-union employees.

NOTE: Each of the current legislators listed have been in office since at least January 2013 except Greene, who was elected in November 2016. Greene has automatic payments set for the rest of this year that will deduct almost $314 each month from his state paychecks to reimburse the state for his 20 percent share of the health insurance premiums.

Source: Iowa Department of Administrative Services and House/Senate finance offices