DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Gov. Terry Branstad is rejecting a request that the state delay penalizing health care providers that don’t quickly sign contracts with the private companies set to run Iowa’s Medicaid program.
Branstad said Monday that there was no need to change the timeline. Democratic lawmakers asked the state to delay the penalties that will hit providers that don’t sign up by Jan. 1. In a letter, they called it “punitive and predatory.”
Branstad says that shifting the state’s Medicaid program to private operators will improve health care outcomes.
The governor’s privatization plans have come under scrutiny, over the speed of the process and the contracting procedures.
