Iowa state Sen. Pam Jochum released the following statement regarding the Iowa Attorney General’s $44.4 million settlement with Medicaid managed care company Centene over allegations of overbilling the state for pharmacy benefits and services:

“Let’s be clear on what happened here: one of the private, for-profit companies that Gov. Reynolds put in charge of critical care for vulnerable Iowans defrauded our state. 

“The settlement speaks for itself: while Centene refused to admit wrongdoing, it agreed to pay $44.4 million to settle accusations of deceptive payments, falsified reports and misrepresented costs. 

“While I applaud Attorney General Miller’s diligence in recovering $44.4 million in taxpayer dollars, this settlement is a stark reminder of the ongoing risks and costs of putting for-profit, out-of-state companies in charge of critical healthcare. Medicaid privatization is not working for Iowa. It costs our state more, and provides far less service. 

“At the very least, Iowa should exempt the disabilities community from Governor Reynold’s broken privatized system so that our most vulnerable aren’t caught up in such blatant fraud and mismanagement.”