Washington, D.C. – March 30, 2017 - Congressman Dave Loebsack released the following statement today after a report from the Des Moines Register showed that the Federal Government could be on the hook to pay $225 million to the private, for-profit insurance companies who run Iowa’s privatized Medicaid program.
“The privatization of Medicaid in Iowa has been nothing but one pitfall after another and it is clear that this hasty and ill-advised experiment has failed. On top of a bailout from the state, insurance companies are now expecting an additional $225 million in taxpayer funds from the federal government. The fiscal incompetence surrounding this switch appears to be never ending. Report after report illustrates that the state was never fully prepared for the switch and reinforces my call for CMS to rescind Iowa’s waiver to privatize its Medicaid program.”
Loebsack has met with families who have been personally affected by this transition and has received feedback from providers who are having issues with being reimbursed in a timely manner. Since last year, Loebsack has been leading the fight with leaders from the Iowa Senate to ensure all 600,000 Iowans who rely on Medicaid are not negatively affected by the transition.
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