Iowa Democrats Bring “Decade of Denied Care” Tour to Des Moines
DES MOINES – Today the Iowa Democratic Party brought the “Decade of Denied Care” Tour to Des Moines, continuing to highlight Medicaid Awareness Month and how the last decade of one-party control has made it harder for Iowans to get the care they need.
Iowans impacted by health care cuts gathered to call out Feenstra’s vote to gut Medicaid and threaten rural hospitals which has already forced clinics in Des Moines to cut services and lay off staff. They also condemned Kim Reynolds’ mismanagement of Iowa’s privatized Medicaid program and discussed how health care has suffered under a decade of one-party rule.
“Medicaid allowed me to return to work full time as a public school teacher. It’s also made it possible for Charlie to attend his local public school,” said Nancy Baker Curtis, an educator whose son relies on Medicaid. “I’m terrified of the implications and impacts of federal cuts … I’d like to invite gubernatorial candidate [Randy] Feenstra to walk a day in my shoes, to come visit our home, to spend time with my family. Because if he does, he could see Medicaid has not only given Charlie the chance to survive — Medicaid provides Charlie the opportunity to thrive.”
“The state of Iowa has a bunch of hoops they want us to jump through and fail,” said Terry Anderson, a veteran from Ankeny whose son relies on Medicaid. “I can say that as a parent who’s been staring at this paperwork for 20 years … These [Republicans] don’t seem to care about us.”
“Between [corporate tax] cuts and the privatization of Medicaid ten years ago this month by Kim Reynolds and Iowa Republicans, we’re now at a place where the legislature has a fig leaf to cut programs like Medicaid that impact access to healthcare,” said Waukee resident Matt Chapman. “Feenstra then voted for the Big Ugly Bill, along with the whole Iowa delegation, further gutting programs that low income Iowans need to live.”
The Republicans running for governor support this health care disaster:
- Randy Feenstra voted to pass Reynolds’ disastrous Medicaid privatization scheme in the state legislature, which has driven up costs, ripped away health care, hurt Iowans with disabilities, and closed rural hospitals.
- In Congress, Feenstra bragged about being a “key author” of his party’s deeply unpopular budget law that threatens health care for 110,000 Iowans and puts at least 23 rural hospitals on the brink of closure, as 117,890 Iowans are seeing their premiums skyrocket.
- Adam Steen praised D.C. Republicans passing the largest Medicaid cut in history and Reynolds privatizing Medicaid, saying “I support everything that Governor Reynolds is doing.”
- Zach Lahn has a history of opposing Medicaid expansion entirely — a position even more extreme than Reynolds’ disastrous privatization scheme.
- Brad Sherman and Eddie Andrews voted to kick thousands of Iowans off Medicaid and made it harder to get health insurance.
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