Loebsack Statement on CMS Delay of Iowa's Proposed Medicaid Transition

Statement

Congressman Dave Loebsack released the following statement today after the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) sent a letter to the state of Iowa indicating they must delay the proposed move to privatized management of Iowa's Medicaid program for 60 days. The letter indicated that the state of Iowa has significant issues to address before more than 560,000 Iowans who rely on Medicaid services switch to the new program. Originally, Governor Branstad intended for the transition to go in to effect on January 1, 2016.

Loebsack has been leading the fight with leaders from the Iowa Senate to ensure those who rely on Medicaid are not negatively affected by the proposed changes.

"I am pleased that the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services have elected to slow down the state's transition to a managed care system, as I urged them to do. I, along with many Iowans, expressed concerns that the transition was too fast to ensure the 560,000 Iowa beneficiaries that depend on Medicaid for quality care are not negatively affected. Going forward, I will continue to monitor the readiness of the state to implement the transition and to ensure care is not interrupted for our states most vulnerable populations."

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