Ahead of Medicaid Anniversary, Iowans Call Out Zach Lahn’s Record of Attacking Health Care
Le Mars Mental Health Care Provider: “When Iowa expanded Medicaid, [Zach] Lahn called it ‘bad policy’ … He can’t be trusted to protect Iowans’ health care.”
DES MOINES – Today, ahead of the 61st anniversary of Medicaid being signed into law, Iowans impacted by Kim Reynolds’ attacks on Medicaid and Washington’s cuts to health care hosted a virtual press conference to highlight Zach Lahn’s record of attacking access to health care. Speakers held Lahn accountable for running to continue Reynolds’ privatized Medicaid disaster and having no plan to fix Iowa’s health care crisis.
Speakers also called Lahn out for spending his career trying to block people from getting health insurance, spearheading a campaign to block Medicaid expansion in Montana — which would have kicked tens of thousands of people off their insurance — and supporting D.C. Republicans’ cuts to Medicaid that threaten health care for 110,000 Iowans and have already closed rural clinics around the state.
Watch the press conference here and read what Iowans had to say below:
“Zach Lahn has a disqualifying record of working to make it harder for folks to get the care they need, and doesn’t have a plan to fix Iowa’s health care crisis,” said IDP Chair Rita Hart. “Medicaid expansion was a game-changer here in Iowa and gave hundreds of thousands of Iowans the care they need, but Lahn called it ‘bad policy’ … Lahn would do nothing to reverse Kim Reynolds’ privatized Medicaid disaster as governor, which has resulted in higher costs, thousands of Iowans being denied health care, including those with disabilities, and closed rural hospitals.”
“Last March, we got a letter from the Managed Care Organization that Dennis is covered under, terminating his supported community living services that keep him safe in our home,” said Tony Good, a Danville resident whose son faces roadblocks to get care under privatized Medicaid. “Ten years ago when Kim Reynolds decided to go to privatized MCOs for profit, it was probably one of the hardest things that [we had to go through] to navigate the system … It’s been an ongoing fight.”
“I’ve recently spent months trying to negotiate a fair rate for the services I provide. I’m a small provider fighting a large, for-profit Managed Care Organization that covers six or more Medicaid plans in Iowa and other states. You can imagine what a small fish I am in their ocean,” said Sheri Porter, a Le Mars resident and mental health provider. “When Iowa expanded Medicaid, Lahn called it ‘bad policy’ and a ‘mess.’ The lack of access to quality programming, like what I provide, and dental care is really the ‘mess’ … He can’t be trusted to protect Iowans’ health care.”
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