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UnityPoint Health May End Contract with Amerigroup Medicaid Plan

doctors office
Jennifer Morrow
/
flickr

Iowa’s largest health system is considering ending its contract with one of the two remaining companies that insure Medicaid patients in the state.

UnityPoint Health announced Wednesday it will end its contract with Amerigroup if "contract issues" are not resolved by the end of the year. Amerigroup is one of the two remaining companies that participate in Iowa’s privatized Medicaid program.

The hospital system says it has notified about 54,000 patients who would be affected by the change. Those Amerigroup patients would have to switch to the remaining managed care organization or go to a different health care provider.

"We are disappointed that our contract issues with Amerigroup are not yet resolved and know the announcement of a possible change may cause confusion for our Amerigroup patients," said UnityPoint Health Vice President Sabra Rosener in a news release.

The announcement comes two weeks after news that one of the three companies contracted to manage Medicaid in Iowa is leaving the state. All three companies saw big financial losses in their first year operating in Iowa.

A UnityPoint spokeswoman declined to comment on the health system’s negotiations with Amerigroup. Amerigroup did not immediately respond to a request for comment. 

Katarina Sostaric is IPR's State Government Reporter