Nothing to see here. It's just Iowa's health care safety net that's ablaze.
Complaints about Iowa's Medicaid have doubled in the past year, says a scathing report issued by the state's ombudsman Kristie Hirschman. For-profit contractors, hired in 2016 when then-Gov. Terry Branstad hurriedly privatized the system, are denying claims at an increasing rate, which Hirschman labeled "stubborn and absurd." Health care providers recently griped that the entire system is an unsustainable house of cards that's undercutting necessary programs for the handicapped and infirm.
Gov. Kim Reynolds earlier this year acknowledged systemic problems, though she's been less than forthcoming with corrective measures. Iowa Legislature this past month basically admitted this whole Medicaid boondoggle isn't going well, passing legislation that, at the very least, established timetables for payments to providers.
Iowa's experiment with privatized Medicaid is a failure by every objective measure. The promised savings to state coffers are a tiny fraction of what was predicted. Almost daily, Iowans are telling their stories about a claim denial for treatment required for them to function. Profit-driven Managed Care Organizations (MCOs) have every motivation to deny services. They, too, have complained that the $4 billion program isn't generating the expected revenue. And a general lack of transparency is pervasive throughout the failing system.
