DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — An independent state agency says the number of complaints related to Iowa’s privatized Medicaid program more than doubled in 2017. The Iowa Office of Ombudsman says in an annual report released Monday that its department investigated more than 225 complaints last year related to private insurance companies that run the state’s Medicaid health program for the poor and disabled.
That’s more than double from the nearly 85 related complaints lodged in 2016.

The office is an impartial agency where citizens can file complaints about state and local governments. The office says complaints overall are up for the fourth straight year, in part because of issues tied to Medicaid privatization and the state’s corrections system. Ombudsman Kristie Hirschman says in the report that she’s not convinced the Iowa Department of Human Services is providing adequate oversight of the private insurance companies. She adds that a bill moving through the Legislature could address some concerns.