DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) - An outspoken critic of Iowa’s Medicaid privatization process says he has been removed as a chairman of a state council that monitors the state’s shift to private management of its $5 billion Medicaid program.
The Des Moines Register reports David Hudson said Tuesday that Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds has dropped him from the Medical Assistance Advisory Council for apparently pushing back too hard against the privatization scheme. He says he felt a duty to speak up when he saw the companies the state hired to run the program cut crucial services to his son and other Iowans with disabilities.
A spokeswoman for Reynolds declined comment on Hudson’s contention that he was pushed out for being outspoken. Reynolds on Tuesday announced four new appointees. They did not include Hudson.
Hudson was appointed by Reynolds’ predecessor Gov. Terry Branstad two years ago.
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