Watch It Here.
On Friday, Iowa Democratic Party Chair Troy Price was in Ottumwa to shed light on Governor Reynolds’ disastrous Medicaid privatization plan. State Senate Candidate Mary Stewart and members of the Ottumwa community, including providers and patients, joined Chair Price in calling for Reynolds and Republicans to be held accountable for the damage they have done to the Iowa health care system, including over 40,000 Iowans who have had denied or reduced services.
Watch the full press conference here.
Governor Reynolds’ misplaced priorities have caused Iowa’s most vulnerable citizens to suffer denied or reduced health care coverage, the closure of medical and mental health facilities due to delayed payments, and the denial of basic medical devices to children and disabled Iowans.
“It should be a fundamental belief that all Iowans should have access to adequate and affordable health care,” said Chair Price. “What Kim Reynolds has done to our Medicaid system is prioritize private business over the wellbeing of Iowans. It is unacceptable that she continues these policies that are literally killing people.”
Just this past week the Des Moines Register reported that cost per patient will increase 11 percent this year because the state is paying privatized firms more than they were before. A recent investigation found that Amerihealth Caritas, the Medicaid company that pulled out of Iowa almost a year ago, still owes Iowa providers more than $14 million.
Despite this, Governor Reynolds continues to double down on her efforts to keep Medicaid out of Iowans control, and instead, in the hands of private out of state companies. Out of state insurance companies will receive a $100 million raise coming directly from the state budget this year, while public education and workforce development tools continue to be underfunded and undervalued by the current administration.
“I will never understand why Governor Branstad turned over our Medicaid dollars to private, for profit MCOs. These organizations profit by reducing and cutting services to individuals, like our son, who desperately need these services to continue to live in the least restrictive environment and maintain their dignity and health and safety,”said Leisa Walker, Ottumwa mother of an Iowa Medicaid recipient. “I find it even more appalling that after Kim Reynolds inherited the office, she refused to look at the fact that over 40,000 individuals have been denied or reduced services and providers have been forced to close their doors while this program costs taxpayers far more than promised.”