DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — The plan to privatize Iowa’s Medicaid services beginning in January includes a new payment scheme that cuts reimbursements for some organizations helping people with physical, mental or developmental disabilities. Some care providers say the loss is enough to force smaller organizations to close, leaving the people they serve scrambling to find services.
Mental health centers and organizations providing services for people with physical or intellectual disabilities say the Iowa Department of Human Services new payment plan is unworkable for some.
A mental health center in Creston expects to lose $150,000 and a nonprofit provider in Burlington faces a loss of about $168,000.
The DHS says the new pay structure simplifies reimbursements and is not intended to cut payments. The agency says it will work with providers facing lower reimbursements.
