DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — After losing his effort to get state workers to pay a portion of their health care costs, Gov. Terry Branstad called on lawmakers Monday to start contributing to their own plans.

Branstad said legislators should pay 20 percent of their health care premiums. Currently, lawmakers, like state union workers, don't have to pay a health care contribution.

"I also think the Legislature has an opportunity to be leaders instead of followers on this," said Branstad, noting that federal employees pay a portion of their health care costs and arguing that coupling contributions with wellness programs will improve health outcomes in Iowa.

Complete your profile to continue reading and get FREE access to BenefitsPRO, part of your ALM digital membership.

Your access to unlimited BenefitsPRO content isn’t changing.
Once you are an ALM digital member, you’ll receive:

  • Breaking benefits news and analysis, on-site and via our newsletters and custom alerts
  • Educational webcasts, white papers, and ebooks from industry thought leaders
  • Critical converage of the property casualty insurance and financial advisory markets on our other ALM sites, PropertyCasualty360 and ThinkAdvisor
NOT FOR REPRINT

© 2024 ALM Global, LLC, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to [email protected]. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.