Iowa Medicaid Saves $126 Million in Move to Managed Care

An Iowa state auditor concluded in a Nov. 26 report that the state's Medicaid privatization efforts will save taxpayers an estimated $126 million this year. The audit follows a series of flip-flopping savings estimates from the state, which ranged from $47 million to $234 million. State Auditor Mary Mosiman (R) criticized the state’s failure to establish a routine method to determine savings, and noted that future savings will be difficult to estimate as the state moves further away from fee-for-service. Since the program, IA Health Link, launched in 2016, the state has moved more than 90% of its Medicaid and Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) members into managed care plans.

NOTE: Meridian Health Plan served the Iowa Medicaid population from 2012 to year-end 2015. The company applied but was not awarded a contract for IA Health Link.

SOURCE: DHP, AIS’s Directory of Health Plans; Office of Auditor of State, State of Iowa, Report on a Review of the Medicaid Savings Estimates for the Period January 1, 2017 Through November 7, 2018. Visit https://www.auditor.iowa.gov/reports/54835/reportFile/embed.