Republican Congressional Candidates are desperate to side-step their atrocious attacks on health care
DES MOINES — With less than 100 days until the November election, GOP congressional candidates in all four of Iowa’s districts are desperate to avoid talking about the top issue on voters’ minds during a global pandemic: health care. As their attacks become increasingly void of their positions on the issues, it’s clearer than ever that the GOP is grasping at straws to distract voters from their records of trying to make it harder for Iowans to access affordable, high-quality care.
In the legislature, Ashley Hinson, Marianette Miller Meeks, and Randy Feenstra all supported privatizing Medicaid — a policy that the overwhelming majority of Iowans agree is failing and has lowered the quality of care they receive. And before Iowa voters rejected him at the ballot box in 2018, David Young even voted to repeal the entirety of the ACA and leave millions without access to care.
Four years after this attack on Medicaid, 54% of Iowans agree Hinson, Miller Meeks, and Feenstra’s rash decision to privatize has “harmed or impeded” their ability to access care. Hospitals, including rural hospitals already struggling to stay afloat, agree as well: 83% are dissatisfied with the changes privatization has caused and a startling 91% reported that settling claims for payment is a more difficult process than before.
“Congresswomen Abby Finkenauer and Cindy Axne, along with Rita Hart and JD Scholten, are all tireless champions of affordable, accessible health care. Meanwhile, the contrast with their Republican opponents could not be more clear-cut: every single one has been against quality health care coverage for Iowans,” said Iowa Democratic Party Communications Director Mandy McClure. “It’s obvious the GOP is desperate to distract voters from their own failed record on health care and silent support for the GOP-backed ACA lawsuit taking place during a global pandemic.”