Last week, the Iowa Senate approved on party lines to enroll more children onto the state Children’s Health Insurance Program, Hawk-I.
The vote count came in at 30 to 18, with all 16 Senate Republicans voting against the measure along with two Democrats.
According to the Des Moines Register, the bill would expand coverage by allocating funding to find children who are eligible for Hawk-I and Medicaid, but not yet enrolled.
Around 40,000 children in Iowa fall into this category, the article estimated.
In addition to funding an effort to find eligible uninsured children, the bill would also create a health insurance commission to come up with a plan for providing affordable health insurance for state residents.
The commission would then come back and offer their plan to state Congress next year.