Branstad’s Medicaid change: Smoke & mirrors

[progressoid]

He assures us that the four management companies will work more efficiently than the state employees have. He assures us that the health care for poor people won’t suffer and will improve. And he assures us that the new approach will save the state $51 million in the first six months and $100 million in the first year from what the government-run Medicaid has cost.

Mark me down as skeptical.

...

Four out-of-state companies were chosen this month to manage Iowa’s Medicaid services beginning in January 2016. All four companies expect to make a tidy profit from their contracts with the state of Iowa.

And that is one reason I doubt the changes Branstad is making will deliver on the savings he’s promising without seriously eroding the health care poor and disabled Iowans receive. Why? State government isn’t expected to turn a profit. But these four companies will find a way to make a profit.

...

One thing Branstad’s staff is less excited to talk about are the fraud and mismanagement charges the four companies faced in other states.

Amerigroup paid $225 million to settle claims that it defrauded Illinois’ Medicaid program by systematically failing to enroll eligible patients, the Register reported. Another of the new private managers, WellCare, paid $80 million to resolve allegations that it inflated its expenses and skimped on the services it provided to patients in Florida.

http://iowadailydemocrat.com/news/2015/09/branstads-medicaid-change-smoke-mirrors/

[roody]

1. This is outrageous.