Cuts to Medicaid Supported by Congressional Republicans Would Have a Devastating Impact on Health Care Access for Residents in Southeast and Central Iowa - Families USA Skip to Main Content
05.05.2025 / Press Release

Cuts to Medicaid Supported by Congressional Republicans Would Have a Devastating Impact on Health Care Access for Residents in Southeast and Central Iowa

New Fact Sheet from Families USA Highlights Importance of Medicaid for IA-01’s Families

IOWA CITY, IA – A new fact sheet from Families USA details the impacts of deep cuts to the Medicaid program in the Republican budget that Rep. Miller-Meeks voted for, which would have devastating consequences for the health and economic security of southeast and central Iowa. Medicaid provides health care coverage for more than 149,000 residents, according to the fact sheet.

“Americans have been showing up in townhalls, calling their representatives in Congress and demanding that Republicans in Washington stop their plan to massively cut the health care that Americans want and need,” said Anthony Wright, executive director of Families USA. “Deep cuts to Medicaid would be devastating for Iowa residents, resulting in significant coverage losses, forcing rural hospitals, long-term care facilities or community clinics to close or scale back services, and throwing state budgets into crisis. We should all be asking every member of Congress who voted for this budget why they are willing to harm working families in their own district just to pay for a tax break for billionaires.”

Medicaid is a lifeline for southeast and central Iowa:

  • 149,100 residents — 19% of all residents in IA-01.
  • 54,900 children — 34% of all children living in IA-01.
  • 26,200 seniors and people with disabilities have Medicaid coverage.

Families in Iowa already struggle to pay for health care:

  • Nearly 1 in 6 people living in Iowa have a high medical cost burden.
  • Median medical out-of-pocket spending in Iowa is about $2,800 per person, almost $1,000 higher than the national average.

Families USA, the longtime health consumer advocate, is organizing with groups in Iowa and across the nation to protect Medicaid from severe cuts, caps, or other regulations that will result in millions of Americans losing access to the health care they need. Earlier this year, Families USA led hundreds of organizations to call on Congress and the Trump administration to reject cuts to Medicaid and work to make health care more affordable, not less.

For additional resources, see Families USA’s fact sheets on how work reporting requirements would undermine access to Medicaid, how cuts harm families and communities, and the overall importance of Medicaid to people, the economy and the health care system.

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