Employer health plans · Iowa
Employer health plans in Iowa
How Iowa employers fund their health plans and which carriers insure them.
2024 plan filings
Employer health plans in Iowa at a glance
Employer plan filings, 2024
Large employer health plans
712
form year 2024
Fully insured
436
61% of large plans
Self-funded
253
15% with stop-loss
Small plans
12
fewer details reported
Median premium per person covered
$10,425
insured contracts, all carriers
Insurance carriers for Iowa employer health plans
Insured large plans by carrier group, form year 2024
| Carrier | Plans | Share | Persons covered | Median premium / person | Median broker % |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Blue Cross Blue Shield | 331 | 76% | 94,051 | $11,665 | 2.0% |
| UnitedHealthcare | 38 | 9% | 10,579 | $5,027 | 4.2% |
| Aetna | 12 | 3% | 8,333 | $8,258 | 5.6% |
| Kaiser Permanente | 9 | 2% | 1,231 | $10,563 | 4.6% |
| Cigna | 8 | 2% | 8,274 | $1,058 | 7.9% |
| Humana | 4 | 1% | 1,638 | $2,921 | 3.3% |
| Anthem (Elevance Health) | 1 | 0% | 710 | $8,531 | 4.7% |
Fully insured vs self-funded
Large employer health plans, 2020–2024
| Form year | Large plans | Insured | Self-funded | Self-funded share |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | 701 | 420 | 255 | 36% |
| 2021 | 664 | 391 | 249 | 38% |
| 2022 | 694 | 421 | 245 | 35% |
| 2023 | 704 | 435 | 238 | 34% |
| 2024 | 712 | 436 | 253 | 36% |
| 2025 (partial) | 592 | 333 | 240 | 41% |
Methodology
How these numbers are calculated
- Sources: employer health plan filings for 2020–2024 (2025 is still coming in and is labelled partial), negotiated rates published by health insurers and hospitals (2026), and Medicare fee schedules for reference.
- Which plans count: large employer health plans, placed in the state of the employer's business address. A carrier's figures count plans with a major-medical insurance contract with that carrier. Self-funded plans that a carrier only administers are not counted under that carrier, and supplemental coverage (dental, vision, accident, hospital indemnity) is excluded.
- Premium per person covered: premium divided by the persons covered on the contract, for contracts covering at least 20 persons.
- Broker pay: commissions and fees paid on each contract, as a share of that contract's premium.
- Network rates: physician negotiated rates for the Employer 50 services, from a sample of providers, shown as a percentage of Medicare. Shown only where the network passes Medlyze's quality checks for the state.
- Hospital prices: commercial negotiated rates (2026) for the whole hospital stay or the hospital's facility charge. Medicare Advantage, Medicaid and individual-market rates are excluded, and so is Humana, whose hospital rates are almost all Medicare. Physician, anesthesia and implant charges are separate.
- Not a judgement: differences describe the plans and rates analyzed. They are not findings about any employer, carrier or broker, and they say nothing about quality or value.
Get the full figures
Brokers: an Employer Account Brief on one employer, or a Prospect List for this market. Employers: a Plan Cost Benchmark for your own plan, with every hospital near your people.