WHAT IOWANS ARE SEEING: Mariannette Miller-Meeks Facing Blowback After Voting For Medicaid Cuts “Expected To Leave Millions More Uninsured”

Iowans and Iowa doctors are sounding the alarm over Medicaid cuts rubberstamped by Miller-Meeks

On Wednesday, Mariannette Miller-Meeks delivered a key YES vote to advance the largest cuts to Medicaid in history, risking health care for tens of thousands of Iowans, slashing $1.7 million in funding to Davenport’s Genesis Medical Center, and threatening the closure of hospitals across Iowa.

And spoiler alert: voters are not happy. Iowans are protesting Miller-Meeks and Iowa doctors are sounding the alarm on how Medicaid cuts rubberstamped by Miller-Meeks “will only make it harder for people to get [health care] coverage.”

Watch / read more:

KGAN: “Let’s take you live now to Washington, DC, where Republican lawmakers are working to pass […] cuts to Medicaid… Iowa’s News Now reporter Feven Zewdu spoke with doctors who are now pushing back… Cedar Rapids based Doctor Brian Lindsay says [the cuts] will only make it harder for people to get coverage.”

KGAN: “The bill advanced this week in three House committees, including one that Congresswoman Mariannette Miller Meek sits on. We did reach out to her office to ask her about those Medicaid cuts, and we did not hear back.”

KHQA: “Residents of Keosauqua, Iowa, gathered in front of the Van Buren County Hospital yesterday in protest of Medicaid budget cuts. The US Congress is considering drastic budget cuts to the Medicaid program, calling for an $880 billion reduction in spending through 2034. This news has left members of Van Buren County unsettled as they wonder how their local health care will be impacted.” 

• Iowa Republicans helped advance out of key committees controversial legislation targeting Medicaid and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program as Congress works to enact President Donald Trump’s major budget priorities.

• Republican U.S. Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks sits on the Energy and Commerce committee, which was tasked with finding $880 billion in cuts to programs it oversees, including Medicaid, over the next 10 years.

• Republicans applauded their work as the legislation moved forward, even as Democrats have been sharply critical that the votes will directly harm their constituents who rely on government programs for support.

• Medicaid cuts expected to leave millions more uninsured

• The Energy and Commerce Committee advanced its piece of the mega-bill in a 30-24 vote May 14. The panel was charged with finding $880 billion in cuts.

• Democrats have homed in on Miller-Meeks throughout the reconciliation process, hoping the votes will prove politically perilous as she enters what could be another competitive election cycle.

• National Democrats have identified her as one of their top targets in 2026.

• “Mariannette Miller-Meeks decided today that making Iowans pay for permanent tax breaks for the ultra-wealthy is more important than protecting their health care,” Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee spokesperson Katie Smith said in a statement. “Miller-Meeks’ vote put billionaires ahead of her constituents, and it will haunt her in 2026.”

Quad-City Times: Mariannette Miller-Meeks defends vote for Medicaid changes; group protests at her office

• Iowa U.S. Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks was among the 30 Republicans who voted to advance the health care portion of a sweeping bill Republicans are pushing that makes cuts and changes to Medicaid, SNAP and taxes.

• Medicaid provides about 70 million Americans with health care, and preliminary estimates from the Congressional Budget Office say that about 10 million Americans could lose Medicaid coverage over the next 10 years under the bill.

• Democrats have warned the bill will cause people to lose health insurance and have painted the bill as taking from the poor to give to the rich.

• About 30 people protesting cuts and changes to Medicaid gathered in the hallway of Miller-Meeks’ Davenport office on Thursday.

• The people there had signs with messages like “Hands off Medicaid.” The door was closed with a sign that stated the office was open by appointment only and directed visitors to a phone number.

###