Why Can’t Kim Reynolds Just Admit Privatization Was A Failure?

Any reasonable person would likely look at the continuing Medicaid privatization scandal and question why Governor Kim Reynolds has refused to admit failure. Iowa’s Medicaid program has been in crisis ever since it began in 2016, and every indication suggests it is worsening. Each week brings another new story of clients whose care is being denied, their benefits reduced or their services cut. Providers can’t get paid, their reimbursement rates are cut without explanation and some are simply unable to remain in business. The fact remains that privatization isn’t saving Iowans any money.

So why does Reynolds continue to say we’re not going back and continue to claim privatization is working?

The answer to that question was provided by Doug Gross in a segment recorded on Iowa Press on September 7, 2018. Gross, a past Republican gubernatorial candidate, formerly served as Governor Branstad’s Chief of Staff.

Kay Henderson of Radio Iowa asked Gross about the effect of former Governor Branstad on the current Reynolds regime.

Henderson: “Talk about the ghost of Terry Branstad. Did he remake the Republican Party or does his exit from the stage mean his influence has exited?”

Gross: “I still think he (Branstad) has a lot of impact on the Republican Party. I mean his base of support is her (Reynolds) base of support. So it’s very important to her right now. That’s what makes it very difficult for her to deal with, for example, with Medicaid. What might be in her interest to do so. So she can’t. So he (Branstad) still has great impact on the Republican Party.”

It is obvious that Gross is suggesting that Reynolds can’t end Medicaid privatization even though it is in her interest to do so. Reynolds must retain the Republican Party base of voters that supported Branstad in order to be elected in November. That Branstad base and the Republican Party at large always comes down on the side of privatization. The basic Republican mantra is “government bad, private sector good.” Recall Ronald Reagan’s slogan from his 1981 inaugural address: “government is not the solution to our problem; government is the problem.”

If Reynolds questions the success of privatization, she is questioning the very essence of Republican dogma. It doesn’t matter if privatization isn’t working, she must champion it because to do otherwise would be Republican Party heresy.

For Reynolds to admit that Medicaid worked more efficiently, was less costly and provided better service under state government management would be a sacrilege to the GOP’s blind faith in free markets.

Gross was right. Reynolds must please her base. In order to do that she must deny the facts that prove Medicaid isn’t working. Denying facts or choosing alternative facts seems to be very prevalent, acceptable and successful among many Republican candidates in the age of Donald Trump.

Reynolds’ only hope is that a majority of the electorate will ignore her glaring failure of leadership with the privatization disaster. However, it appears her handlers are realizing she is losing public support with her stubborn devotion to the privatization of Medicaid. They may urge her to suggest some minor adjustments, but don’t assume she will ever scrap privatization under her watch.

It’s so discouraging to see a politician so beholden to some delusional ideology that they can’t accept the overwhelming evidence that counters their opinion. Reynolds is stuck in a privatization straitjacket that prevents her from honestly evaluating the efficacy of the private for-profit Medicaid management.

One thing you can be certain of with Fred Hubbell: he has been successful working in the private sector and understands that in the case of Medicaid, public oversight is the best choice. He will make government work for everyone by ending this Medicaid privatization nightmare.

by Rick Smith
Posted 9/18/18