The Iowa legislature’s top Republican says she and her colleagues expect improvement in how the state’s Medicaid program is being managed. House Speaker Linda Upmeyer of Clear Lake is a nurse.
On April 1st of 2016, when Terry Branstad was governor, Medicaid patients began having their care managed by private companies rather than state employees. Upmeyer says that transition was “bumpy.”
Some Medicaid recipients complain the private companies are denying them necessary care. Hospitals and other health care providers are complaining the bills for treating Medicaid patients are not being paid in a timely way.
