Speaker Pro Tem Carroll to Appear on Jan. 24 KUNI Radio Program About Medicaid

January 6, 2005

Iowa House Speaker Pro Tem Danny Carroll, R-Grinnell, will be a guest on a KUNI Public Radio about the state’s Medicaid program at 10:00 a.m., Jan. 24. Carroll, state Sen. Jack Hatch, D-Des Moines, and Iowa Department of Human Services Director Kevin Concannon will be interviewed by KUNI Statehouse Bureau Chief Jeneane Beck. The program can be heard in the Grinnell area at 90.9 FM or by logging onto www.kuniradio.org.

The state’s Medicaid program will be the focal point of discussion during the legislative session that begins Monday. Lawmakers are facing a projected $350 million budget shortfall in the coming fiscal year with Medicaid comprising of more than half of that amount.

“The Iowa Medicaid program has been funded, in large part, from borrowed funds for the past three years.  It is time for state leaders to identify and adopt a responsible and long term plan to administer and fund this federal entitlement,” Carroll said. “If this does not happen, Iowans who depend on the benefits and health care providers who deliver the services will suffer the consequences.”

Carroll, a client of The Concept Works, is a recognized as a leader on Medicaid reform. He has worked with Gov. Tom Vilsack, legislative colleagues from both political parties and the state’s congressional delegation to improve the program, which provides approximately $2 billion in medical care for low-income Iowans, including $700 million funded by state taxpayers.

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