State officials will pay the three private companies that manage care for Iowa Medicaid patients 33-million dollars more than was outlined in the original contract. Governor Terry Branstad says the extra money will cover the rising costs of prescription drugs.

 

Michael Bousselot is the governor’s chief of staff. He says switching Iowa’s 560-thousand Medicaid patients into privately managed care plans will save the state more than 140-million dollars.

 

The drugs to treat hepatitis C, for instance, now cost 80-thousand dollars. Democrats in the Iowa Senate are criticizing Branstad’s administration for “handing over even more tax dollars” to the out-of-state companies managing care for Iowa Medicaid patients

Senator Joe Bolkcom — a Democrat from Iowa City — says “privatized Medicaid” has reduced the quality of services provided and increased the financial strain on the state’s health care system.