More than 425-thousand Iowa Medicaid patients will have to sign up with a new “managed care organization” now that the state and United Healthcare are ending their business deal. However, it’s unclear if there’s a deadline for patients to make that switch.
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That’s Iowa Department of Human Services director Jerry Foxhoven. United Healthcare currently manages services for 70 percent of Medicaid patients. A company called AmeriGroup is managing care for the rest. On July 1st another company called Iowa Total Care will start sign ups to manage care for Iowa Medicaid patients, too. Senator Amanda Ragan, a Democrat from Mason City, is a long-time critic of having private companies manage the state’s Medicaid program.
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United Healthcare executives say the company has lost a quarter of a billion dollars in Iowa and had to sever its contract to manage Iowa Medicaid patients’ care because the state has underfunded the programs. Governor Kim Reynolds has said the company wanted to be paid without meeting performance goals – like paying health care PROVIDERS on time.