Iowa

Department of Human Services spokesman Matt Highland said in an email to the Register on Friday that staff members are "working to develop a more comprehensive methodology to calculate managed care savings which looks at all associated costs, such as non-medical costs which include administrative costs, care coordination and quality improvement activities. Once the methodology has been finalized, the department will provide updated numbers and will use this new, comprehensive methodology moving forward."

Highland did not explain why the DHS staff members' estimate of state savings for 2018 was 60 percent lower than their estimate of savings for 2017. The two reports include almost identical descriptions of how the estimates were made.

Randol recently came to Iowa from Kansas, where he was Medicaid director during that state’s controversial shift to managed care. He describes himself as a firm believer in the efficiency of having private companies run the program, which is jointly financed by state and federal governments.

https://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/news/health/2018/01/05/medicaid-privatization-saving-iowa-80-less-money-than-predicted-state-report-says/1008693001/