Des Moines carriers hold decades of policyholder data. Iowa's regulator now asks who can open it.
Downtown Des Moines runs on life policies, annuities and crop coverage, and many of those contracts last decades. Carriers keep that data in several generations of policy-admin systems at once. When we start an engagement here, the first job is usually counting how many systems hold the same policyholder.
- Insurance PlatformsEnterprise Platforms
- Identity Governance & AdministrationCybersecurity
- Customer Identity (CIAM)Cybersecurity
- Governance, Risk & ComplianceCybersecurity
- Data Governance & AccessData & Analytics
- AI Governance & SecurityAI & Machine Learning
- NHI Discovery & GovernanceCybersecurity
For Des Moines insurers, annuity writers, health plans and agricultural lenders, we handle identity governance, agent and policyholder sign-in, insurance platform data and AI governance.
Iowa-domiciled carriers have to keep an information security program that holds up to the Insurance Division's annual certification, and that program leans hard on access evidence. We work from our Frisco, Texas headquarters and fly up to Des Moines for workshops, cutovers and launches.
Cohash has no Des Moines office. Our team works from Frisco, Texas, and handles Iowa engagements remotely, flying in for discovery sessions, design workshops and go-live weekends.
- rules
- Iowa breach notification, Iowa Code §715C.2Iowa Insurance Data Security Act, Iowa Code ch. 507FIowa Consumer Data Protection Act, Iowa Code ch. 715D
What's specific about Des Moines
Each figure comes from a public source, linked on the card.
Financial activities account for about 56,900 of the Des Moines-West Des Moines metro's 408,700 nonfarm jobs, going by BLS figures for September 2026 (preliminary).
source ↗ 02 $25.3 billionThe Greater Des Moines Partnership says finance and insurance contributed $25.3 billion of the region's $90 billion GDP in 2024, and that more than 80 insurance companies are headquartered in Greater Des Moines.
source ↗ 03 20,000Wells Fargo, Principal, Nationwide and John Deere Financial alone employ over 20,000 people in Greater Des Moines, according to the same Partnership page, which also lists Wellmark, Athene and Farm Bureau Financial Services among the region's major employers.
source ↗ 04The Iowa Insurance Division in Des Moines requires Iowa-domiciled insurers to file the Insurance Data Security Law annual certification on or before April 15, and HIPAA-compliant exempt licensees file their own certification by the same date.
source ↗ 05Under Iowa Code 715C.2, a breach that requires notifying more than 500 Iowans also requires written notice to the Attorney General's consumer protection director within five business days of telling consumers.
source ↗Who we work with in Des Moines, and the rules they work under
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Life insurance, annuities and retirement
Annuity and retirement carriers often run a mainframe policy-admin system next to a newer platform bought through acquisition, with a third-party administrator holding another copy. Agents, wholesalers, call-center staff and TPA users all need some access. We map each population to the records it actually touches, then build access reviews that a 507F certification can point to.
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Property, casualty and crop insurance
Mutual carriers and crop insurers in central Iowa work through independent agents, adjusters who show up after a hailstorm and seasonal claims staff. Short-lived accounts pile up every summer. We set up time-bound access for surge adjusters and agent sign-in that ties each user to an appointing agency, so departures close accounts on their own.
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Health plans and benefits administration
A health plan sits under HIPAA, Iowa's breach law and, for some lines, the Insurance Division as well. The access model has to separate member data used for claims from the same data copied into analytics. We scope warehouse roles by purpose and keep service accounts behind claims integrations on rotation.
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Agricultural lending and equipment finance
Ag lenders price loans on yield history, equipment telematics and land records pulled from many partners. Those feeds rely on API keys and partner accounts that nobody reviews after onboarding. We inventory them, assign owners and govern the data pipelines that feed credit models.
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Iowa breach notification, Iowa Code §715C.2 ↗
Consumers must be told in the most expeditious manner possible and without unreasonable delay. A vendor holding data for another business must tell that owner immediately. Breaches requiring notice to more than 500 Iowans also go to the Attorney General within five business days. HIPAA and GLBA compliant entities are carved out.
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Iowa Insurance Data Security Act, Iowa Code ch. 507F ↗
Licensees keep an information security program and notify the commissioner no later than three business days after confirming a qualifying cybersecurity event. Iowa-domiciled insurers certify compliance each year by April 15. Small licensees can be exempt by workforce, revenue or asset size.
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Iowa Consumer Data Protection Act, Iowa Code ch. 715D ↗
In effect since 1 January 2025 for businesses controlling data on at least 100,000 Iowa consumers, or 25,000 if over half of revenue comes from selling data. GLBA financial institutions and HIPAA covered entities are exempt. The Attorney General enforces it after a 90-day cure notice, with penalties up to $7,500 per violation.
Most requested in Des Moines
The services clients in Des Moines ask us for most.
01Our carrier is domiciled in Iowa. What does the April 15 certification actually need from identity and access?
The certification says your information security program meets the chapter 507F requirements, so you need evidence behind it. On the access side that usually means documented reviews of who can reach nonpublic information, MFA on remote and privileged access, and oversight of third-party service providers. We build those controls and make the records easy to pull.
02Does the Iowa Consumer Data Protection Act apply to an insurer?
Often only in part. The act exempts financial institutions and data subject to GLBA Title V, and HIPAA covered entities. Insurers commonly fall under GLBA, but a carrier's marketing affiliate or a non-insurance subsidiary may not. Ask counsel to map which entities are in scope before you build a rights-request process.
03Three business days to notify the Insurance Division seems tight. How do we hit it?
The clock starts when you confirm an event, so speed depends on knowing quickly which accounts and systems were involved. We centralize sign-in logs, tag privileged and service accounts, and rehearse the questions from the Division's notice form so the first report goes out on time.
04Can you help us govern AI models that use policyholder data?
Yes. We start with an inventory of models and the data each one reads, then set approval rules for new use cases and keep access logs for model pipelines. For underwriting or claims models, we keep training data, feature stores and outputs under the same role model as the source policy data.
05Do you work with independent agent portals?
Yes. We design agent sign-in so each user maps to an agency and its appointments, with delegated administration for agency principals. When an appointment ends or an agent leaves, access ends with it.
43c09ab9 - 01BLS, Des Moines-West Des Moines economy at a glancebls.gov ↗
- 02Greater Des Moines Partnership, Insurance & Financial Servicesdsmpartnership.com ↗
- 03Iowa Insurance Division, data cybersecurityiid.iowa.gov ↗
- 04Iowa Code §715C.2legis.iowa.gov ↗
- 05Iowa Code §507F.7legis.iowa.gov ↗
- 06Iowa Code §715D.2, scope and exemptionslegis.iowa.gov ↗
- 07Iowa Code §715D.8, enforcementlegis.iowa.gov ↗
- 08Iowa Senate File 262 (2023), enrolled textlegis.iowa.gov ↗
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