UPDATE. Medicaid privatization in Iowa has been a really bad deal for consumers

Capital Times, 7/27/2018

Iowa Medicaid's per-member cost increases nearly triple since privatization.  (Des Moines Register, 9/18/2018)

Clearly, those predictions turned out to be wishful thinking at best, big piles of BS at worst.  Since fiscal 2017, the first full year of privatization, the per-member cost of Iowa's Medicaid program has risen an average of 4.4 percent per year, according to the non-partisan Legislative Services Agency. In the previous six years, the per-member cost rose an average of 1.5 percent per year, the agency said. 

The new cost figures come amid continuing controversy over whether Iowa should have hired private companies to run the $5 billion program. The shift’s supporters said it would slow growth in health care spending on the more than 600,000 poor or disabled Iowans covered by Medicaid.

8/31/2018 update, "More Medicaid privatization outrage from Iowa", starts here.

A heartless, misguided, power-hungry Iowa GOP.

The happy family is found at AmeriHealth Caritas

Reported in A private Medicaid company that pulled out of Iowa has yet to pay thousands of medical bills.  (Des Moines Register, 8/30/2018)


Original 8/25/2018 post, "Private Medicaid provider to clients:  No wheelchairs for you!  And they get a raise for their heartlessness", starts here.

Reported in Iowa Medicaid company forced to provide special wheelchairs to disabled clients.  (Des Moines Register, 8/20/2018)

Des Moines Register, 8/24/2018

The agreement will keep UnitedHealthcare and Amerigroup in Iowa, but it will mean state leaders must come up with about $103 million more than last fiscal year. 

[snip] 

The raises come amid continuing controversy over whether Iowa should have hired private companies to run its Medicaid program in 2015. 

Critics say the shift has led to cuts in services and loads of red tape. Supporters, including Republican Gov. Kim Reynolds, say it is leading to more efficient, effective care, and is saving taxpayers millions of dollars compared to what they would have otherwise spent.

Related post:
Shredding the safety net UPDATE. In Iowa, Medicaid privatization increasingly becomes synonymous with 'claim denied'.  (4/3/2018)