A plan to make a change to how doctors and patients use Medicaid could be coming through the Iowa Legislature. State Senator Julian Garrett tells KNIA News there is a law in Iowa that allows doctors to have a direct contract with patients in the private sector for basic medical needs, rather than go through insurance and have the administrative work that goes along with it. Garrett also said he is trying to implement that same principle for those who use Medicaid.

“The tricky part is the direct contract with the doctor or clinic works great for basic healthcare needs, common ordinary things such as a hurt arm or the flu, whatever it may be that is spelled out in the contract. But it doesn’t work for the more serious things such as heart surgery or cancer, so the difficult part is trying to work both of those scenarios in there. We’re working on that and I hope we come up with a plan to do that.”

For more information on the proposed changes, tune in to today’s Let’s Talk Indianola.