Ottumwa Doctor Calls Out Randy Feenstra, IA Republicans for Gutting Rural Health Care
DES MOINES – In a new letter to the editor in the Ottumwa Courier, Peter Reiter, a retired doctor who worked at a clinic that closed due to Iowa Republicans voting to gut Medicaid and put rural hospitals on the chopping block called Randy Feenstra out for voting for the largest cut to Medicaid in history and threatening access to rural health care.
This comes after the Iowa Democratic Party hosted the statewide “Decade of Denied Care” Tour, a series of events calling attention to the last decade of harm caused by Medicaid privatization and health care cuts and the state and federal levels.
Read more from a concerned doctor in the Ottumwa Courier: Republicans own Iowa’s rural health care crisis
- As a retired physician who spent four decades treating patients in Ottumwa, I know the importance of rural health care- not just for our neighbors, but for the local economy and health of our community.
- Maintaining quality health care in rural Iowa could never be taken for granted. Recruitment of health professionals is challenging. Medicare reimbursement policies disadvantage Iowa physicians and hospitals.
- Then the MercyOne clinic in Ottumwa closed in February because Zach Nunn, Randy Feenstra, Marionette Miller-Meeks and Ashley Hinson all voted for the “Big Beautiful Bill” to give tax breaks to the wealthy by cutting health care. Their vote to strip funding from Medicaid recipients and Affordable Care Act users gutted health care for 110,000 Iowans and put hospitals at risk of closure.
- Their action closed our clinic, leaving Wapello County residents scrambling to find care and laid off 52 Iowans in Ottumwa. But while we are ground zero, we are not alone. This vote has set off a wave of health facility lay-offs and reduction of health services across Iowa. Expect that those without adequate insurance, unable to travel, or unable to afford office visits and prescriptions will forgo care and become sicker. The devastating effect on places like Ottumwa cannot be understated. Rural communities, already struggling, lose a key source of economic activity and a crucial resource to attract and retain new residents.
- Iowa’s congressional delegation along with Republican policymakers own this crisis. They need to be held accountable. Elect new leaders who will improve health care access for all Iowans. Vote like your life depends on it. Because it does.
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