UnitedHealthcare denies quality payments spurred Iowa Medicaid split

A UnitedHealthcare executive disagreed with statements from Iowa officials that the health insurer is departing the program because it didn't want to comply with pay-for-performance measures, according to the Des Moines Register.  

Republican Gov. Kim Reynolds said March 29 that UnitedHealthcare will pull out of Iowa's managed Medicaid program in the next few months after negotiations soured.

Bror Hultgren, interim CEO of UnitedHealthcare Community Plan of Iowa, said during an interview cited by the Des Moines Register that the insurer's "decision to leave really came down to underfunding and the inability to create a path forward with sustainable funding."

However, Jerry Foxhoven, director of the Iowa Department of Human Services, disagreed, referring to a memo from Mr. Hultgren that listed UnitedHealthcare's contract demands. The memo included an ask for Iowa's Medicaid program "to waive all pay-for-performance requirements" for the fiscal year through June, according to the report. In the memo, UnitedHealthcare also requested the state to not withhold any funds for the current fiscal year related to quality measures.

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