Thursday Morning Read: Cafe Muse opens, Scholarships cut, Medicaid losses

Medicaid Losses - The three private insurers managing the state's nearly $5 billion Medicaid program expect their one-year losses cumulatively to reach $450 million, they told legislators on Wednesday morning during a joint Senate and House Health and Human Services Appropriations Subcommittee meeting. Kim Foltz, chief executive officer of UnitedHealthcare's Iowa operations, told legislators that number was higher than expected but assured them the company remains committed to creating a sustainable program in Iowa. That was a sentiment echoed both AmeriHealth and Amerigroup. Read more about the meeting with legislators here.

Scholarships cut - The University of Iowa on Wednesday notified 2,440 students receiving scholarships they won't be getting the money they're expecting in the next academic year. Lawmakers in December agreed to slash $18 million from funds already allocated to Board of Regents universities for their 2017 budgets as part of a $117.8 million de-appropriation in response to budget shortfalls. The reduction took $8 million each from UI and Iowa State University and $2 million from University of Northern Iowa — and they were cuts to the universities' base state funding, meaning the fallout could stretch years into the future. Learn more about the fallout from these cuts here.

Fresh face at ISU - Kevin Dresser, 54, officially accepted the job as the Cyclones coach Sunday, agreeing to a seven-year deal worth $2.25 million guaranteed plus incentives. His base salary next year is $300,000, making him one of the highest-paid wrestling coaches in the nation. 'It's OK to say we want to beat Iowa, isn't it?' Dresser said. 'No. 1, it's fun. It's a lot of fun. No. 2, it's a benchmark. Let's face it, Iowa's pretty darn good and I don't see them getting any worse. So if we're competing at that level, we're in the hunt.' Read more about Dresser coming to ISU here.

Cafe Muse opens in North Liberty - The food menu is small — a handful of sandwiches, charcuterie and hummus and vegetable snack bowl — with pastries from Tip Top Cakes in Coralville. Along with coffee and espresso drinks, they serve Rishi teas, smoothies, chai and hot chocolate. Another option is high tea, which comes with sandwiches, pastries and fresh fruit.They plan to extend their evening hours and start serving wine, beer and coffee-based cocktails such as Irish coffee, an espresso martini and a coffee old fashioned. Read more about Cafe Muse here.

Quotable - 'So ... Mayor Ron Corbett's 'big surprise' was not that he's running for governor, but that he wrote a Cedar Rapids tribute song,' Pat Rynard tweeted from the Twitter handle of Iowa Starting Line, a left leaning political blog. Read more about the State of the City address here.