I’m going to a Joni Ernst town hall in about 2 hours. Here is what I want to say, although it is unlikely I will get the chance.
I have two questions, one for you and one for Chuck Grassley. But he hasn’t done a public meeting in this county in 6 years. What’s he afraid of, that we’ll give him the “Full Grassley?” Just yesterday, he described the new health care bill, “…I could give you ten reasons why this bill shouldn’t be considered, but Republicans campaign on this so often that you have a responsibility to carry out what you said in the campaign. That’s pretty much, as much of a reason as the substance of the bill.” He’s more interested in party politics, more interested in Hillary Clinton’s emails than a President that committed treason by collaborating with the Russians.
But I am going to assume you won’t put party politics over the interests of your constituents. And here in Iowa, we have already seen how party politics changed health care. When Gov. Branstad was elected, his #1 goal was to tear down IowaCare. Over 150k people were kicked off IowaCare and told to reapply for Medicaid or go on the ACA exchange. He called it “Medicaid Expansion” but it was really Medicaid Contraction. He did this deliberately as revenge, to destroy the IowaCare system created by Tom Vilsack, who beat him in the 1998 election.
I was poor enough that I was right at the borderline of coverage, so both Medicaid and the Exchange refused to cover me. I fought with them for 6 months, during which time I had no access to medications or any health care. One of the Iowa Medicaid agents said, “oh you’re a ‘Looper,’ you’re getting kicked back and forth and neither system will cover you.” Finally I got the Exchange to cover me. I got an ACA subsidy and bought health insurance, which made me poorer than ever. Then, 6 months later, Medicaid sent me a letter, oh you were right, you were covered all along, we retroactively covered you so now you can apply to get your insurance payments back!"
So now I’m on Medicaid. But Iowans already have experience on how this Republican system works. Brandstad subcontracted the perfectly adequate Medicaid system out to private insurance companies like Anthem. Now I am getting letters from THEIR sub-subcontractors, refusing to refill prescriptions that I’ve had covered for years. And I can’t see one of my providers, her group practice was covered by my Anthem/Amerigroup MCO but she moved to a private practice. She submitted the paperwork a year ago, but can’t get approved by Amerigroup, so I haven’t had an office visit in a YEAR. I’ll have to find a new provider, or switch MCOs.
Iowans know how this Republican health plan is going to work. They’ll give states a block grant, the governors will call it “health care expansion” and use it to reduce services. People with preexisting conditions like me will have no coverage, because the Federal Government won’t require it. Everyone’s coverage will be reduced because they can’t afford it. People will die. And you’ll blame “Obamacare.” You already wrecked the ACA because the insurance companies don’t know what’s going to happen. I’m asking you to commit to FIXING the ACA. That’s what people want. It’s not what the Republican Party wants, but you are responsible to your constituents, not Chuck Grassley and Mitch McConnell. Please help us save our health care.