On ACA Anniversary, Iowa Leaders Call Out Republicans in Congress for Making Health Care Unaffordable and Inaccessible

State Senator Janet Petersen: “Ashley Hinson Voted to Cut Medicaid and the Affordable Care Act, Which Will Spike Health Care Premiums for Iowa Families”

Watch Their Remarks Here

DES MOINES – On the 16th anniversary of the Affordable Care Act, Iowa leaders gathered to call out Ashley Hinson, Randy Feenstra, Mariannette Miller-Meeks, and Zach Nunn and Republicans in the Iowa legislature spiking health care costs.

“My family went without health insurance for a short period of time, and that was a really scary time for us,” said Iowa Democratic Party Chair Rita Hart. “That’s why it’s absolutely unacceptable that Iowa Republicans Randy Feenstra, Ashley Hinson, Marianette Miller-Meeks, and Zach Nunn continue to work to dismantle the ACA and make it harder for Iowans to receive health insurance.”

“Iowa families are being squeezed from every direction, and we know people are working hard, doing everything right, and they’re still falling behind. We know one of the biggest drivers of that pressure is rising health care costs,” said State Rep. Larry McBurney. “What makes this even more frustrating is that these costs aren’t rising by accident. This is the result of decisions made by both the federal and state Republican lawmakers here in the state of Iowa.”

“What I’m seeing as a volunteer EMT is already very scary,” said Rachel Burns, an Iowan enrolled in the ACA and volunteer health care provider. “People are afraid to allow for ambulance transport because they can’t afford it. People are afraid they’re losing their insurance or their benefits aren’t strong enough. They cannot continue to be put into medical debt over getting sick and injured.”

“It’s extremely maddening to see what our federal delegation is doing to try to dismantle [the ACA] as well as what we’re seeing at the Iowa state house,” said State Sen. Janet Petersen. “Ashley Hinson voted to cut Medicaid and the Affordable Care Act, which will spike health care premiums for Iowa families. […] What we’ve seen coming from the federal delegation and from the Iowa state house not only hurts our friends and neighbors who are trying to get health insurance that they can afford for themselves [and] their families, but it also hurts health care providers and hospitals around our state.”

Ashley Hinson’s Failing DC Record is Spiking Health Care Costs:

• Hinson voted to block a bipartisan effort to extend the tax credits to stop health care costs from skyrocketing.

• Her vote is expected to kick 24,000 Iowans off their health insurance and an estimated 117,890 have seen their insurance costs increase by 97% – an average of $1,080.

• Hinson said she was “proud” of her vote for the biggest cuts to Medicaid in history, which threatens to kick over 100,000 Iowans off their health care.

• At the same time, Hinson gave a $121 billion tax cut to the richest 1%, after voting against legislation capping prescription drug costs at $2,000 a year and insulin at $35 a month.

• She supported a plan to convert Medicare to a “premium support model,” which would “end Medicare as we know it” by making it compete with private plans.

Randy Feenstra Made Health Care More Expensive and Harder to Find:

• Randy Feenstra voted for Kim Reynolds’ disastrous Medicaid privatization scheme in the state legislature, which drove up costs and ripped health care away from working families.

• Feenstra bragged about being a “key author” of his party’s deeply unpopular budget law that threatens health care for 106,700 Iowans and puts at least 20 rural hospitals on the brink of closure.

• Feenstra voted to skyrocket health care premiums for 117,890 Iowans.

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