Iowa Senate Democrats

Tag: Medicaid

  • Partial review of privatized Medicaid disaster doesn’t answer concerns

    Iowa Senate News Release
    For Immediate Release:  November 26, 2018

     

    Statement from Senator Pam Jochum on partial review of Medicaid privatization disaster

    “The partial review of the Medicaid privatization disaster by the departing State Auditor is a big pile of excuses with no good answers for Iowa taxpayers who are being ripped off.

    “State Auditor Mary Mosiman joins a long line of Republican politicians – led by Governor Reynolds and Republican legislative leaders – who still cannot answer these simple questions:

    • What data is there to show that privatized Medicaid is making Iowans healthier?
    • What data is there to show how much the out-of-state corporations still owe Iowa hospitals, doctors and other health care providers for services provided to Medicaid members?

    “We remain concerned that the unexpected $100 million increase in payments to the out-of-state corporations running Medicaid will result in further cuts and delayed payments to Iowa health care providers that provide critical services to hundreds of thousands of Iowans, as well as additional cuts to education, health care and public safety to cover the additional payments to the corporations.

    “We hope that the Governor and legislative leaders of both parties will work with the newly elected State Auditor, Rob Sand, to open up the books and give Iowans an honest assessment of the impact of privatized Medicaid on Iowa taxpayers, Medicaid members and health care providers.

    “Finally, we renew our call for Governor Reynolds and legislative Republicans to finally reverse course and join legislative Democrats in supporting a return to a more efficient, publicly managed system.”

    -end-

  • Is rationing health care the Iowa GOP’s secret plan to “fix” Medicaid mess?

    IA SEN NEWS
    Oct. 30, 2018

    In the final days of the 2018 campaign, a Northwest Iowa State Senator may have mistakenly released the Republican Party of Iowa’s secret plan to “fix” the Medicaid privatization mess.

    During a forum last week sponsored by the Sioux City Rotary Club, State Senator Jim Carlin of Sioux City proposed rationing health care for Medicaid recipients.

    Carlin specifically said lawmakers should “look into limiting the number of doctor visits” by people on Medicaid.

    Senate Democratic Leader Janet Petersen called Carlin’s proposal “mean-spirited and dangerous.”

    “This is another example of a politician playing doctor,” Petersen said. “The last thing that Iowa parents need is to be worried about politicians placing arbitrary caps on the number of times their children can visit the family doctor for an ear infection, a broken arm or diabetes. And how could the Legislature and Governor limit the number of doctor visits for disabled Iowans or those with chronic illnesses? That’s mean-spirited and dangerous.”

    Throughout 2017 and 2018, Governor Reynolds and other Republican leaders acknowledged “mistakes were made” with Medicaid privatization, but they have offered no solutions for reversing course on a change that has turned over health care management for hundreds of thousands of Iowans to out-of-state corporations.

    As a result, the Reynolds Administration, Senator Carlin and others in the Republican-controlled Legislature have led an effort that has:

    1. Cut and delayed payments to Iowa health care providers that provide critical services to hundreds of thousands of Iowans.
    2. Made health care services even less accessible to Medicaid members.
    3. Shifted more than $100 million away from education, health care and public safety to cover the additional payments to out-of-state corporations.

    “Make no mistake about it, Senator Carlin’s plan would cost Iowa taxpayers more money in the long run and would further endanger the health and safety of Iowans,” Petersen said.

    Read the full Sioux City Journal article: https://tinyurl.com/yd4oouq2

    – end –

  • What happens when you privatize Medicaid?

    In a video released Sunday, AJ+ looks at “what happens when a state puts a crucial social safety net in the hands of for-profit companies.”

    It’s a devastating report on Iowa’s Medicaid privatization that features Senator Pam Jochum of Dubuque, as well as Iowans who are suffering under the #MedicaidMess.

    It’s got people all over the country scratching their heads and asking, “What is wrong with Iowa?”

    WATCH: 

  • Petersen: Medicaid increase is GOP’s ‘gut punch’ to Iowa taxpayers

    Statement from Senate Democratic Leader Janet Petersen on GOP’s ‘gut punch’ to Iowa taxpayers 

    “Iowa families, health care providers and taxpayers received a gut punch today because of the mismanagement of privatized Medicaid by Governor Reynolds, Senate Republicans and House Republicans.

    Iowa Senate Democratic Leader Janet Petersen

    “Taxpayers are being hurt because they must now pay an additional $342.2 million to out-of-state corporations that are running Medicaid and Iowa’s heath care system into the ground.

    “In order to balance the state budget, Governor Reynolds and Republican legislators are unfortunately likely to

    1. Cut and further delay payments to Iowa health care providers that provide critical services to hundreds of thousands of Iowans.
    2. Make health care services even less accessible to Medicaid members.
    3. Take more than $100 million away from education, health care and public safety to cover the additional payments to out-of-state corporations.

    “The best option would be for Governor Reynolds and legislative Republicans to finally reverse course and join legislative Democrats in supporting a return to a more efficient, publicly managed system.

    “We all know for-profit Medicaid has been a disaster for Iowa families and health care providers. Now we know that it is a bigger disaster for the state budget and Iowa taxpayers.”

    -end –

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

  • More Medicaid mess: Iowans lose access to dental care

    Iowa Senate News Release
    For Immediate Release:  June 29, 2018  

    Statement from Sen. Joe Bolkcom of Iowa City
    on latest evidence that Medicaid privatization is a disaster 

    “The Medicaid privatization disaster just got much, much worse with the decision by the University of Iowa’s College of Dentistry to stop taking new adult Medicaid patients starting July 1.

    “Oral health is the number one unmet need in Iowa adults. The College of Dentistry has stepped up to meet this need by being the provider of dental care to more than 8,000 adult Medicaid patients.

    “The decision by Governor Reynolds and her profit-making, out-of-state MCOs to lower reimbursements, delay payments and create mounds of red tape has made it extremely difficult for dentists and the College of Dentistry to continue to serve patients in need of dental care.

    “Governor Reynolds, Senate Republican Leader Jack Whitver and House Speaker Linda Upmeyer need to show leadership by pulling the plug on a privatization effort that has failed Medicaid members, health care providers and taxpayers.”

    – end –

  • Still no answers on Medicaid mess

    Iowa Senate News Release
    For Immediate Release:  June 18, 2018   

     

    A Statement from Senator Pam Jochum

    “The presentation by Iowa Medicaid Director Mike Randol last week was an embarrassing disservice to Iowa taxpayers.

    “The Reynolds Administration has still not provided any solid evidence that Medicaid privatization is saving Iowa taxpayers one dime. They also failed to address ongoing problems with the quality of service provided to Medicaid members and the failure to provide Iowa health care providers with adequate and timely reimbursements.

    “The failure by the Reynolds Administration to come clean with Iowa taxpayers is even more reason for the State Auditor to comply with my request to conduct a comprehensive audit of Medicaid privatization that explains why it isn’t working.”

    -end –

  • Governor: Reveal the numbers behind Medicaid savings claims

    IOWA SENATE NEWS
    For Immediate Release: May 29, 2018

     

    DES MOINES – Senator Pam Jochum of Dubuque has accepted Governor Reynolds’ offer to provide the numbers behind alleged Medicaid savings of hundreds of millions dollars.

    “This is not about the politics, it’s about the numbers and Iowa families,” said Jochum, a legislative leader on health care issues. “That’s why I have accepted Governor Reynolds’s offer to meet with Medicaid Director Mike Randol and go over the numbers.  This meeting should, of course, be open to the public and news media.  Iowans have a right to know where and how their tax money is being spent.  We are talking about hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars, the financial survival of the state’s health care providers, and the lives of 600,000 Iowans and their families.”

    Republican claims about the financial impact of Medicaid privatization have varied dramatically.*  When the Des Moines Register filed an open records  request for the facts, the Reynolds Administration released a one-page letter that was also sent to Senator Jochum.  The Register was offered more information, but only on “background.”

    “If money has been saved, I want to know how that happened,” said Jochum.  “Did for-profit Medicaid suddenly improve the health of Iowans with serious health care challenges? My best guess is that  most of the ‘savings’ came from failing to pay Iowa health care providers and forcing Iowa families to accept lower quality care.”

    The Republican budget approved during the 2018 session did not include a firm estimate of the cost of Iowa Medicaid for the coming year.

    “We all know for-profit Medicaid has been a disaster for Iowa families and health care providers,” said Jochum.  “I believe it has also been a disaster for the state budget.  Governor Reynolds, I look forward to a public review of the hundreds of millions of dollars Iowa has spent on privatized Medicaid and the reforms that will start fixing Iowa’s Medicaid mess.”

     

    * Reynolds Administration Claims Regarding Privatized Medicaid Costs

    Claimed Savings Date Source
    $232  million by FY 18 January 2015 Branstad/Reynolds Administration
    $47.1 million for FY 18 December 2017 Reynolds Administration
    $140.9 million (either annually OR  cumulatively) May 2018 Reynolds Administration

     

    -end-

  • Jochum to Auditor Mosiman: Open “special investigation” into claims of Iowa Medicaid savings

    DES MOINES — Senator Pam Jochum of Dubuque has formally asked Mary Mosiman, the Auditor of the State of Iowa, to “audit the Iowa Medicaid program and the private managed care companies to document and determine the amount of ‘savings’ generated by privatizing the Iowa Medicaid program.”

    “Auditor Mosiman has said her unofficial office motto is, ‘In God We Trust…Everyone Else We Audit,’ said Jochum.  “That’s exactly the attitude we should all take to the suspect claims being made about Iowa’s disastrous Medicaid privatization.”

    Senator Jochum said Auditor Mosiman’s office should subpoena documents from the Reynolds Administration and from private companies to determine if “Iowans are really saving money by paying out of state, for-profit insurance companies to care for our most vulnerable.”

    In her letter to Mosiman, Senator Jochum noted that she had earlier asked the Reynolds Administration to provide the calculations related to Medicaid savings.  She described the response–single sheet of paper claiming almost a half billion dollars in savings—as “inadequate.”

    Senator Pam Jochum has represented Dubuque in the Iowa House and then the Iowa Senate by 1993. From 2013 to 2016, she served as the President of the Iowa Senate.

    – End –

     

    Text of Senator Jochum’s letter to Auditor Mosiman:

     

    May 22, 2018

     

    Mary Mosiman
    Auditor of State
    State of Iowa
    Capitol Building
    Des Moines, IA  50319

     

    Auditor Mosiman,

    I am writing today to officially request that you and your office audit the Iowa Medicaid program and the private managed care companies to document and determine the amount of “savings” generated by privatizing the Iowa Medicaid program.

    You serve as the “Taxpayers’ Watchdog.”  The amount of savings predicted and reported by the Iowa Department of Human Services has continually changed.  Iowans deserve a better answer.  Iowans deserve to know if their taxpayer funds are being used in the most efficient way.

    Your office should subpoena the necessary documentation from the Department of Human Services and the private companies to determine if Iowans are really saving money by paying out of state, for-profit insurance companies to care for our most vulnerable.

    I recently asked the Department of Human Services to show me the calculations related to Medicaid savings and I received the attached inadequate response.  It is time for you and your office to open a special investigation so Iowans can be assured their taxpayer funds are being used effectively and efficiently.

    Thank you for your attention to this matter.

    Sincerely,

    State Senator Pam Jochum

  • Statement on deferred confirmation vote for DHS Director

    Iowa Senate News Release
    For Immediate Release:  March 7, 2018

    Senate Democratic Leader Janet Petersen on deferred confirmation vote for DHS Director

    “We made a reasonable request today to delay the confirmation vote on Jerry Foxhoven until we can fully assess his leadership at the Iowa Department of Human Services.

    “First, there’s no need to rush this important decision. The deadline to deal with confirmations isn’t until April 15.

    “Second, there are too many unresolved problems with the privatization of Medicaid services by the Reynolds Administration. This is particularly concerning because Governor Reynolds promised in her Condition of the State address this year that Jerry Foxhoven and other new members of her team would:

    • Resolve issues for caregivers ‘in a timely manner and ensure on-time payments.’
    • Reach patients in ‘new and innovative ways to individualize their care.’
    • ‘Make it right.’

    “There’s no evidence today that she has kept those promises or has a plan for addressing the concerns of Medicaid recipients, health care providers and Iowa taxpayers.

    “In addition, Senate Democrats have concerns related to:

    • Plans to turn the Iowa State Training School for Boys in Eldora into a correctional facility.
    • Foxhoven failing to raise red flags about the impact of mid-year budget cuts on critical services provided by the Department of Human Services.
    • Doubts about the state’s ability to ensure the health and safety of vulnerable Iowa children.”

    -end-

     

  • Democrats denounce secret meeting on Medicaid problems

    News Release
    For Immediate Release: February 21, 2018

     

    DES MOINES — Four key Democratic state legislators today denounced plans by officials with Governor Kim Reynolds’s Administration to have a closed-door meeting to discuss the failed Medicaid privatization experiment.

    The four legislators – Senators Amanda Ragan and Liz Mathis and Representatives Lisa Heddens and Beth Wessel-Kroeschell – were reacting to plans by Iowa Medicaid Director Michael Randol to hold a closed-door meeting with Medicaid providers on Thursday, February 22.

    The stated purpose of the meeting is to identify and discuss payment issues that Iowa health care providers are having with privatized Medicaid.

    Here’s a joint statement from the four Democratic legislators:

    “This meeting should be open to the public because problems with Medicaid affect all Iowa taxpayers, more than 600,000 Medicaid members and healthcare providers across the state.

    “Hundreds of hospitals, nursing homes and other Iowa healthcare providers face financial jeopardy because of Medicaid privatization. This issue affects Iowans in every county.

    “If there’s going to be a bipartisan solution to this problem, more – not fewer – Iowans should be at the table for the discussion.”

     Requests by legislators to attend the meeting have been denied.

    The four legislators also renewed their concerns about a proposal by the Reynolds Administration to eliminate much of the oversight for the privatized Medicaid program.

    Sen. Ragan and Rep. Heddens are ranking members of their respective Health and Human Services Appropriations subcommittees, and Sen. Mathis and Rep. Beth Wessel-Kroeschell are ranking members of their respective Human Resources committees.

    -end-