Iowa auditor wants to measure state Medicaid quality

Megan Knowles -

Rob Sand, the newly elected Iowa state auditor, wants to measure the quality of the state's Medicaid services, according to The Gazette.

The audit Mr. Sand's predecessor released in November did not answer questions about how much private insurers that give Medicaid coverage to Iowans still owe providers for services, Mr. Sand said.

Additionally, the audit did not consider the services being provided or the quality of those services.

"You can't just look at a price tag — you have to know what you're getting in exchange, and we haven't looked at that," Mr. Sand said. "I think that's really important. It doesn't make any sense to say here's the price without saying here's what we're getting."

To ensure the program is providing improved care, Mr. Sand's office will try to determine "if we're failing to provide preventive medicine and it's costing us more later on, if we're moving people from one form of healthcare to another and that's making them unable to be productive citizens," he said.

It is unclear how long the audit will take, Mr. Sand said.

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