Three private insurers — AmeriHealth Caritas Iowa, Amerigroup Iowa and UnitedHealthcare of the River Valley — are now managing Iowa’s $5 billion Medicaid program, according to a report from The Gazette.
Here are five things to know about the issue.
1. The state handed over management of its Medicaid program April 1.
2. Under the new arrangement, Iowa will pay the three private companies as much as $504 million in the first year to manage the coverage of the state’s 560,000 Medicaid enrollees.
3. The move comes after months of protests and multiple delays from the federal government, according to the report.
4. The transition to privatization was initially set to take place Jan. 1. But in December, the federal government pushed back the transition date to March 1. Then, the federal government approved the Medicaid privatization plan, but it wasn’t set to occur until April 1.
5. Gov. Branstad has defended his plan to privatize Medicaid, saying he believes the move will save the state nearly $51.3 million in the first year.
“We feel an obligation to provide the best medical services to the people of Iowa, and to do it in a way that coordinates those services,” Gov. Branstad said in defense of his plan, according to The Des Moines Register. “We have seen from the experience of other states that this has improved health.”
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