Hospital association executive fired after Trump-like satirical blast against governor

An executive of one of Iowa’s most influential medical associations was fired after he criticized Gov. Kim Reynolds for the state's Medicaid “mess” in what he said was a satirical Facebook post, records obtained by the Des Moines Register this week show.

Thomas “Scott” McIntyre's 18-year career with the Iowa Hospital Association ended after his response in March to a coworker’s post that he said also was critical of Reynolds' handling of Medicaid.

McIntyre said in a Sept. 30 state unemployment hearing that his post was satirical and phrased in “Donald Trump language." But it rubbed a “small but powerful group” of the association’s members the wrong way, he said.

McIntyre, the association's vice president of communications, issued an apology, but James “Kirk” Norris, the group’s CEO, fired him days later. McIntyre said during the hearing that Norris indicated in conversations with him that he likely wouldn’t have been fired had it not been for the angry contingent of association members.

The post — which was made on McIntyre and his coworker's personal Facebook accounts and not publicly accessible — was deleted, and McIntyre testified that his coworker also was fired.

McIntyre's unemployment records did not name the coworker, and the Register was unable to confirm the person's identity.

“I was trying to kind of be funny with it. I was trying to, like, do it satirically, like, kind of in a Donald Trump language. Kind of an over-the-top, hyperbole thing,” McIntyre said during the unemployment hearing.

Intense controversy has surrounded the privatization of Medicaid since then-Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad decided in 2015 to hire for-profit companies to run the state’s $5 billion program, which provides health care to about 575,000 poor or disabled Iowans.

Supporters — including Reynolds, who was Branstad's lieutenant governor — say it is leading to more efficient, effective care. But critics say it has led to deep cuts in services for disabled Iowans and has failed to deliver millions of dollars in payments and reimbursements to health care providers.

Iowa has agreed to increase its rate of payment to the private companies multiple times, the latest being an 8.6%, $386 million-a-year hike announced in July.

McIntyre, as spokesman for the 90-year-old association, which advocates for more than 125 hospitals and health care systems in the state, had voiced opposition to some of the practices associated with Iowa’s privatized Medicaid companies.

"It's further proof that these companies cannot deliver effective management, despite their claims, and have placed health care providers and the vulnerable Iowans they care for in jeopardy," McIntyre said in a 2017 statement that criticized cuts to Medicaid payments to hospitals, doctors and other health care providers.

McIntyre won his unemployment appeal and Iowa Administrative Law Judge Beth Scheetz granted him benefits in a ruling dated Oct. 1. She ruled that the association — whose representatives did not participate in the September hearing — provided no evidence that McIntyre had posted his comments with an intent to cause harm to the group.

It was unclear which members were upset with McIntyre’s post. Craig Borchard, a spokesman for the association, declined to comment. Pat Garrett, a spokesman for Reynolds, said the governor was not consulted about the matter.

McIntyre’s home in Bondurant is for sale and he told a reporter this week that he was still looking for a new job. He declined to discuss his unemployment case.

“I’m just trying to move on,” McIntyre said.

Jason Clayworth is an investigative reporter at the Des Moines Register. He can be reached at 515-699-7058 or jclayworth@dmreg.com