“A Disaster for Patients and Providers”: Iowans Speak Out Against Health Care Cuts in Sioux City
DES MOINES – On Friday, Iowans in Sioux City gathered for the second stop of the Iowa Democratic Party’s “Decade of Denied Care” Tour in Randy Feenstra’s Congressional district. Speakers called out Feenstra’s vote to gut Medicaid and put rural hospitals on the chopping block, Kim Reynolds’ mismanagement of Iowa’s privatized Medicaid program, and how health care has suffered under a decade of one-party rule.
What Iowans are watching and reading:
KCAU: Iowa Democrats ‘Decade of Denied Care’ tour meets Sioux City
- The start of April marks the 10th anniversary of Iowa’s privatization of Medicaid, and local Democratic lawmakers are not impressed with the outcome.
- “Privatizing Medicaid has been a disaster for patients and providers in the state of Iowa,” said Senator Catelin Drey, a Democratic Iowa Senator for District 1.
- “There are people who are suffering because of these cuts, and by and large, those people are at the bottom of the income scale.”
FRONT PAGE NEWS: Sioux City Journal: Drey, Scholten call out Iowa Republicans for state’s health care woes
- Members of the Iowa Democratic Party and local residents said at an event Friday the state of health care in Iowa is woeful and that the Republican Party is culpable.
- J.D. Scholten, the representative for Iowa House District 1, said the “Big Billionaire Bailout” is putting stress on the health care system including nursing homes.
- Local activist and comedian Garie Lewis is one resident who’s had to make long drives for health care. He said Medicaid pays for his trips to Omaha to get therapy for complications related to long-COVID. “If I lose anything to these cuts, I’ll be homeless in a very short period of time,” he said.
KWIT (Siouxland Public Media): Iowa’s Democratic Party holds event regarding healthcare
- “A hard truth that I need those who don’t use Medicaid to hear is that your healthcare is also dependent on a functioning Medicaid and Medicare system,” said Drey. She also noted that once Medicaid cuts are implemented more healthcare facilities will continue to close when resources are already limited.
- “The Republicans and Governor Reynolds privatized Medicaid and what we’ve seen in almost a decade is that it has cost the state more and we have less services,” said Scholten.
- One of the speakers, Abi Calvert, a licensed independent social worker, shared her experience of needing Medicaid and helping people try to obtain Medicaid. She dramatically fanned out 27 pieces of paper as the first step to apply for Medicaid, to show the complexity of applying.
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