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Newton Daily News: Protestors fear proposed Medicaid cuts would close Newton hospital
- Financial effects of $700B cuts could put rural communities at risk, advocates say
- Supporters of Medicaid last week opposed Congress’ budget cuts by protesting outside Newton Clinic and MercyOne Newton Medical Center, which they said could now be in danger of closing or eliminating vital health care services for rural Iowans. The hospital already paused all labor and delivery services in 2024.
- Cindy Pollard, of Newton, said everybody she knows since 1999 has been born at the local hospital, known back then as Skiff Medical Center. […] No babies have been delivered locally since last fall. Jasper County mothers have had to travel at least a half-hour away for a labor and delivery unit.
- Health care advocates say nursing homes and hospitals could feel the financial effects of these cuts. Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks, who represents Jasper County, voted in favor of the bill. Her decision was a subject of scrutiny by protestors, who felt betrayed considering her background as a physician.
- They also criticized a recent social media video in which Miller-Meeks refuses to answer questions…
- In the video, Social Security Works confronts Miller-Meeks saying she lied to their faces when she said she wouldn’t vote for Medicaid cuts.
- “I think that no doubt she is under a great deal of pressure from her party and her party leadership, but we didn’t elect her to do this,” Anderson said. “We elected her to stand up for us, her constituents. And she’s not doing it if she votes for this.”
Quad-City Times: Quad-Cities health care, disability leaders concerned as Medicaid faces cuts
- Proposed cuts to Medicaid have left health care and disability service leaders in the Quad-Cities concerned about the impact to their clients and organizations.
- Children, seniors and those with disabilities are among the three largest populations of Medicaid users. For many area families seeking assistance in the disability services arena, Hand in Hand in Bettendorf is the primary provider.
- Medicaid funding is a big part of fulfilling the mission at Hand in Hand, CEO Angie Kendal said.
- That evolution has spanned into multiple services covered by Medicaid. Inclusive child care is one of the biggest services local families need, she said.
- Without Medicaid to fund programs, Kendall said, Hand in Hand’s entire budget is at risk. Approximately $800,000, or 33% of the budget, comes from Medicaid payments. Private pay makes up the second third. The final third — anywhere from $750,000 to $1 million annually — comes through fundraising.
- [Community Health Care] is a primary care provider in Davenport that serves about 50,000 people in the Quad-Cities region, Bowman said. Primary care covers a wide range of health services, he said, from OBGYN needs to therapy; pharmacy care to school-based programs and even a homeless outreach clinic.
- Of the clientele CHC serves, about 65% are Medicaid patients.
- “We anticipate anywhere from 10-20% of our patients will lose coverage,” he said, adding that equates to about 5,000-10,000 people in the Quad-Cities alone.
- Bowman said this could lead to patients skipping primary care because they can’t afford it and going straight to the emergency room, which will put a bigger strain on health care workers.
- “Without this funding, there is a vacant hole,” she said. “(Medicaid) makes life and our community better.”
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