Federal authorities have not signed off on Iowa's low-income health care expansion because they do not like the use of premiums in the plan, Gov. Terry Branstad said Thursday.

Wellmark said the reserve funds were necessary for a company its size to ensure that it can pay medical bills for policyholders.

Iowa's leading health insurer will wait a year before participating in the state's new health exchange due to concerns about problems that could arise with its implementation in the early going, company's CEO said Monday.

A legislative compromise has been struck on low-income health care, but now Iowa starts the complicated process of putting the plan in place.

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.