UI Hospitals raise alarm over Medicaid denials

[rurallib]

And now the chickens come home to roost. I suspect this will be a full blown crisis by mid-summer or early fall:

http://www.thegazette.com/subject/news/education/higher-education/university-of-iowa-hospitals-raise-alarm-over-medicaid-managed-care-denials-20170419

<snip>
Jean Robillard, vice president for medical affairs of the $1.9 billion University of Iowa Health Care enterprise and dean of the UI Carver College of Medicine, told the Board of Regents on Wednesday that his hospital recently has seen its collection percentage fall from 33.9 percent in January to 31.3 percent in March — a spike largely tied to Medicaid managed care denials.

<snip>
The change has prompted the hospital system to adjust its operating income margin projections for the current budget year from 3.5 percent to 1.6 percent. When looking at actual numbers, UIHC has downgraded its 2017 operating income projections from $52.2 million to $23.9 million.

<snip>
Since the state last year handed over its Medicaid program — and its nearly 600,000 low-income and disabled Iowans — to three private insurance companies, an array of issues have emerged. And Robillard on Wednesday said the hospital still is seeking about $6.4 million in Medicaid reimbursements for old cases dating back 270 days or more — contributing to concerns with the bottom line.

<comment> boy did Branstad ever fuck this up. But media is barely reporting it and certainly not giving it the urgency it deserves.