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Siouxland Public Media News, 5;04 Newscast

040319 504

Governor Kim Reynolds says she’s confident the state will have two private insurance companies to take on 425-thousand poor and disabled Iowans after the state’s biggest Medicaid management company leaves.

0403reynolds1: 14   “Yes they are--every indication that they’re in. We’re meeting with Iowa Total Care as well as Amerigroup. They’re committed to Iowa. They’re committed to continuing to provide the services and we’re going to get it done.”

Reynolds says UnitedHealthcare, the company that’s leaving and the second such company to do so, is committed to helping make it a smooth transition. UnitedHealthcare says it’s leaving because the state is underfunding Medicaid, but Reynolds says it’s because she wouldn’t compromise on holding them accountable. 

Iowa Democrats have been criticizing the Republican governor because they say this will disrupt health care for some of the state’s most vulnerable people. They say privatized Medicaid management is a failure.

A key Republican lawmaker in the Iowa House of Representatives says his committee will NOT advance a controversial fetal homicide bill that defines personhood as starting at conception. This means the proposal won’t remain eligible at the statehouse this year. 

The bill would further increase criminal penalties for a person who “causes the death of an unborn person” without consent from the mother.

Republican Representative Steven Holt of Denison says the proposal came from the Senate too late for House members to get answers to all their questions.

Opponents say the proposal could lead to outlawing abortion and could affect birth control and in vitro fertilization.

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