In 2017, Republicans in the Iowa Legislature cut hospital reimbursements, cut funding at our two remaining mental health institutions, failed to address the Medicaid managed-care mess, and wasted $3 million in state money in a misguided attempt to replace birth control and other Medicaid preventive health care services provided by Planned Parenthood.

Now, Republicans in DC are threatening to make our health care situation even worse, with deep cuts to Medicaid, an “age tax” that will make insurance more expensive for people ages 50 to 64, and other changes that threaten health care for more than 22 million Americans.

Make the call

You can help by calling our United States Senators, Joni Ernst and Chuck Grassley, to urge them to oppose the federal health care bill, especially the major cuts to Medicaid. Here are their phone numbers:

Senator Ernst:
(202) 224-3254 (DC)
(319) 365-4504 (Cedar Rapids)
(515) 284-4574 (Des Moines)
(563) 322-0677 (Davenport)
(712) 252-1550 (Sioux City)
(712) 352-1167 (Council Bluffs)

Senator Grassley:
(202) 224-3744 (DC)
(319) 363-6832 (Cedar Rapids)
(319) 232-6657 (Waterloo)
(515) 288-1145 (Des Moines)
(563) 322-4331 (Davenport)
(712) 233-1860 (Sioux City)
(712) 322-7103 (Council Bluffs)

I (Rob Hogg) called yesterday, and hope you can call, too. Together, we can stop this legislation that endangers health care for millions of Americans and would blow a bigger hole in Iowa’s budget, making our state’s financial mess and health care problems even worse.

Get involved

You can also help by getting involved in one of the membership advocacy groups working to stop this legislation and improve health care for everyone. Here are some groups that are actively working to improve Iowans’ health and access to health care:

AARP
Phone: (515) 244-2272
Website: www.aarp.org
Facebook: www.facebook.com/aarpiowa
Twitter: https://twitter.com/aarpiowa

Alliance for Retired Americans
Phone: (515) 262-9571
Website: https://retiredamericans.org/
Facebook: www.facebook.com/iowaalliance
Twitter: https://twitter.com/ActiveRetirees

American Cancer Society
Phone: (800) 227-2345
Website: www.cancer.org
Facebook: www.facebook.com/AmericanCancerSociety
Twitter: https://twitter.com/AmericanCancer

American Heart Association
Phone: (515) 414-3200
Website: www.heart.org
Facebook: www.facebook.com/AmericanHeartAssociationIowa
Twitter: https://twitter.com/AHAIowa

Iowa Citizen Action Network
Phone: (319) 354-8116
Website: http://iowacan.org/
Facebook: www.facebook.com/IowaCitizenActionNetwork
Twitter: https://twitter.com/IA_CAN

NAMI Iowa
Phone: (515) 254-0417
Website: www.nami.org
Facebook: www.facebook.com/NAMIIowa
Twitter: https://twitter.com/namiiowa

Thanks for your ongoing advocacy and your support for a healthier state and a healthier future.

–Rob

Senator Rob Hogg
Iowa Senate Democratic Leader
Cedar Rapids