Branstad’s reckless Medicaid scheme amounts to gubernatorial malpractice
Governor Branstad’s enormous Medicaid privatization is quickly turning into a colossal train wreck for Iowa’s most vulnerable population. That was obvious on Tuesday as the Legislature’s Health Policy Oversight Committee heard testimony from more than 20 health care groups and providers calling for a delay of the Branstad regime’s privatization decree. Many of these health care experts who are responsible for implementing and delivering these critical services described Branstad’s half-baked plan as mass chaos.
There was nearly universal criticism of upending Iowa’s well-established and efficient Medicaid program and degrading it with an unplanned and reckless privatization scheme. There was general agreement that there is near total confusion among the 500,000 elderly and poor Iowans about their choice of plans, choice or loss of doctors, cost and availability of services.
...Here’s a sample of some of the testimony:
The Iowa Hospital Association (IHA)
“the timeline for implementation is too aggressive, unrealistic, and increases the potential for unintended consequences. Rushing the process will result in unnecessary patient and provider confusion, claims denials, restricted access to care, and potential litigation. The state should slow down, phase-in implementation, and provide answers to critical questions before moving forward with implementation. The IHA opposes the state’s initiative to implement managed care.”
AARP Iowa
“We are concerned that an overly-ambitious effort to achieve savings in the short term could have adverse consequences for beneficiaries’ access to needed care. AARP believes the initiative has an overly aggressive time frame for transition and implementation.”
more...http://iowadailydemocrat.com/news/2015/11/branstads-reckless-medicaid-scheme-amounts-to-gubernatorial-malpractice/
= new reply since forum marked as read
She is disabled, and also receives Medicare and SSDI. What Medicare doesn't cover for her, Medicaid does (or maybe I should say "did"
cover.
She got a letter several weeks ago about this, and promptly called me. Due to her schedule, she hadn't been keeping up with what was going on with this situation. She wanted to know what the letter was talking about, and how it would affect her. I really could not make any sense of what the letter was about, or how it would possibly affect her in the future.
After we talked it over, and the possible consequences to her, and her well-being, we finally came to a conclusion. Before she went on Medicaid, I had been paying for a supplemental health policy for her, to cover costs that Medicare didn't cover. She is still eligible for such a policy, and if this changeover really does go into effect, I will once again be paying for her supplemental policy. There will have to be research done to see if she will need (or is even eligible for) a Medicare Part D policy to cover her med costs.
Once again, Braindead proves he's not working for the people of Iowa, but for the corporations. And in this case, not even Iowa corporations!!!
