Iowa legislators to discuss Medicaid transition Tuesday

State legislators will meet this Tuesday afternoon to discuss Iowa's transition to Medicaid managed care during the second and final oversight meeting of the year.

The state handed over its $5 billion Medicaid program with more than 600,000 enrollees to three private insurers on April 1. Since then, providers have run into billing issues, citing late or inaccurate payments while critics the insurance companies have reported millions of dollars in losses.

The Health Policy Oversight Committee will review the second-quarter report put out by Department of Human Services in late November. Legislators also will talk with representatives from the managed-care organizations, the state of Iowa and the managed-care ombudsman program.

In the week leading up to the meeting, Senate Democrats have asked Medicaid providers to complete a survey, which asks if the transition has added to administrative costs; if there has been an increase in claims denials; and if MCOs are paying claims in a timely fashion, among other questions.

The results will be discussed at the meeting.

The meeting, which will be open to the public and livestreamed, will take place from noon to 4 p.m. at the state capitol building. Information on the meeting and the survey can be found at http://smgs.us/3kbd.

l Comments: (319) 398-8331; chelsea.keenan@thegazette.com