CHARLES CITY – State Senator Mary Jo Wilhelm of Cresco is organizing a listening post in Charles City to hear health care concerns raised by Governor Branstad’s impending privatization of Medicaid.
The meeting will take place at 4:00 PM Thursday, September 24, in Room 108 of the NIACC Charles City Center at 200 Harwood Drive in Charles City.
State Senator Amanda Ragan of Mason City, the chair of the Iowa Senate’s Health & Human Services Budget Committee and a leader on health care issues, will also take part.
“Governor Branstad’s is pushing to privatize Medicaid services faster and more completely than in any other state,” Wilhelm said. “I’m concerned that people in our communities will be denied critical medical services and that local providers will not be adequately reimbursed for the medical care of Medicaid patients.”
Many Iowa health care leaders are concerned that the Branstad Administration’s goals are unrealistic and could threaten the health care of Iowans.
By January 1, 2016, the health care of more than a half million Iowans will be turned over to four managed care companies. Under the Branstad Administration’s proposed contracts, administrative costs will jump from 3 to 15 percent, reaching a new total of $600 million. At the same time, the overall cost to the State of Iowa is supposed to fall by $100 million a year.
“We all need to work together to make sure quality health care services remain available to local seniors, people with physical and mental disabilities, and mothers and children,” said Wilhelm.
