Rob Sand (file photo)
The Democrat who will become state auditor in January says he will do a more expansive evaluation of Iowa’s Medicaid program.
Rob Sand’s comments come after outgoing Republican State Auditor Mary Mosiman released a report that concludes the state will save $126 million this year because Medicaid is now managed by private companies. Sand said Mosiman failed to evaluate the quality or timeliness of care provided to the 680,000 Iowans who are Medicaid patients.
“Is it really actually saving us money if things are getting broken and deadlines are getting missed?” Sand said in a video statement posted on Twitter. “We don’t know because the audit doesn’t even try to answer those questions.”
Senator Pam Jochum, a Democrat from Dubuque, is the legislator who asked for an audit to compare privatized Medicaid with the previous fee-for-service program that ended April 1st of 2016. Jochum said Mosiman released “a big pile of excuses” that didn’t include how much Iowa health care providers are owed for Medicaid patient care.
“We are not giving the taxpayer the big picture, what’s really happening with privatization of Medicaid,” Jochum said.
Late Monday afternoon, Governor Kim Reynolds told reporters she had not yet read the auditor’s report.
“What I’m really focused on is making sure that we’re focused on providing outcomes for those who are using the system, that the system covers, and that we have a sustainable program for the future,” Reynolds said after a series of budget hearings in her statehouse office.
The Reynolds Administration recently renegotiated contracts with the private companies managing care for poor, elderly and disabled Iowans who are covered by Medicaid. The state auditor said she released her review of the Medicaid program after the election in order to get updated data on usage and costs.