Iowa legislators ask managed-care organizations if they’ll meet deadline

DES MOINES - There was one question state representatives had for the four managed-care organizations at Monday's Health Policy Oversight Committee meeting: Are you ready for Jan. 1?

Gov. Terry Branstad announced his plan to shift the state's $5 billion Medicaid program over to four out-of-state, private companies earlier this year.

Starting Tuesday, federal officials from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) - which still must approve the plan - will be in Des Moines to meet with the managed-care organizations - AmeriGroup Iowa, AmeriHealth Caritas Iowa, UnitedHealthcare of the River Valley and WellCare of Iowa - as well as the Iowa Department of Human Services to determine readiness.

During the first two hours of the committee meeting, the managed-care organizations offered updates on where their provider networks stood:

l Amerigroup said the company had contracts with about 8,000 of the state's 29,000 active Medicaid providers.

l AmeriHealth had about 13,000.

l UnitedHealthcare said it has contracts with the state's four largest health care systems - UnityPoint, Genesis, Covenant and University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics - as well as 50 percent of the state's physicians.

l WellCare had contracts with about 5,300 providers.

'You have 25 days before this goes live,” said Iowa Rep. John Forbes, D-Urbandale. 'I have some concerns about that.”

Representatives asked a series of questions about readiness regarding provider networks, completed contracts and managed-care staffing levels, with a few expressing frustration when they could not get more precise provider-contract numbers.

'You've got to be better prepared for your meetings with CMS this week,” said Iowa Sen. Joe Bolkcom, D-Iowa City. 'I assume CMS is going to ask that question.”

Also on Monday, Branstad announced an extension of the time period in which Medicaid providers are able to receive full reimbursement. That would allow all Medicaid providers, whether in-network or out-of-network, to receive 100 percent reimbursement for services provided until April 1, 2016.

'That gives a little more time for the ones that haven't signed up to date,” the governor said during his weekly news conference. 'We feel confident that the process can go forward and people can be assured that the providers will get the reimbursement during this period of time.”

Check back later today for more details on this developing story.

Gazette Des Moines Bureau reporter Rod Boshart contributed to this story.