Episode 10: The $7 Billion Leak
Host: Chad Benson
Recording Date: January 4, 2026
Overview
"It’s like Mr. Belding from Saved by the Bell trying to take on a Terminator." Recording from his living room in Sioux City, host Chad Benson moves from the "Base Kid Mentality" to a surgical strike on Iowa’s fiscal failures. As the 2026 legislative session approaches, this episode pulls back the curtain on a system that has forgotten how to care for a child while becoming an expert at "doodling in the margins" of administrative compliance.
We dive deep into the $7 billion Medicaid machine—the largest line item in the Iowa budget. Chad breaks down the "Administrative Leakage" that sends over $1 billion annually to out-of-state boardrooms and shareholders while local therapists are forced to shutter their doors. By comparing Iowa’s 15% administrative load to Connecticut’s 3.8% model, we expose a system designed to pay contractors more for doing a worse job.
The recurring "Benjamins" segment returns to highlight the profit-over-people motives of Managed Care Organizations (MCOs)—[Audio Drop: "It's all about the Benjamins, baby"]. Chad contrasts a world that can successfully market fried-chicken-flavored toothpaste while making Iowa families wait 90 days for basic medical records.
Inside the Briefing:
The Doodle Metaphor: Why "performative compliance" is the greatest enemy of actual clinical care in Iowa.
The Connecticut Gold Standard: How a non-profit model reclaimed hundreds of millions for care by firing the corporate middlemen.
The "Silent 20" Crisis: An inside look at the redundant bureaucracy of care coordination meetings where "authorized decision-makers" are nowhere to be found.
The Natan Provision: A legislative proposal to end the "state secret" status of medical records with $5,000 daily fines for non-compliance.
Breaking the Shield: Why "Sovereign Immunity" must be revoked to hold the state accountable for administrative neglect.
The Lead Seat Rule: Mandating that any state meeting must include a decision-maker with a 48-hour "Yes or No" deadline.
District Sovereignty: Transitioning to seven district-led health boards to keep Iowa tax dollars in Iowa communities.
The 15% Recovery: Reclaiming $1 billion to fund a 25% rate increase for behavioral health providers and 300 new local "System Navigators".
The 24/7 Response: Redirecting funds to create mobile crisis teams so families in the middle of the night call clinicians, not the police.
Call to Action:
"There is no fate but what we make for our families." It is time to stop the "what-ifs" and start the "right-nows." Join the unit as we push for the IHSA and demand a system that values human life over corporate dividends.
"A machine can learn the value of human life—maybe we can too."
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