ICYMI: Miller-Meeks Can’t Rewrite Her Record on Health Care
After voting to cut coverage and raise costs, Rep. Miller-Meeks attempts to rebrand herself on Iowa TV
DES MOINES, IA — Representative Mariannette Miller-Meeks is airing a new television ad portraying herself as a champion for Iowa health care. But for many Iowa families facing higher premiums, lost coverage, and growing uncertainty, the reality of Rep. Miller-Meeks’ record tells a very different story.
Despite presenting herself as an advocate for patients, Rep. Miller-Meeks voted for the largest Medicaid cuts in history, let the Affordable Care Act tax health care credits expire and drive up premiums for working families, and continues supporting Republican plans that put even more health care cuts on the chopping block to pay for tax breaks for billionaires and war spending. She also sided with pharmaceutical corporations over Iowa patients, taking campaign support and even an apartment tied to Big Pharma interests while opposing efforts to cap insulin costs for Americans who depend on it. Meanwhile, Iowa hospitals and clinics are closing their doors, maternity wards are disappearing, and rural communities are losing access to basic care. While Iowa families deal with the fallout, Miller-Meeks is running television ads pretending she’s protecting their health care.
At the same time, Miller-Meeks has refused to meaningfully engage with constituents sounding the alarm over rising costs and lost coverage. She has repeatedly avoided public town halls, saying she’d face constituents when “hell freezes over”, and dismissed Iowans attempting to share their experiences directly with her. In one widely criticized interaction, Miller-Meeks told a constituent who traveled to Washington, D.C. to speak with her about rising premiums, “I’m not going to talk to you.”
The compassionate doctor Miller-Meeks portrays in her ad is nowhere to be found in the way she has treated Iowa patients, families, and constituents struggling to afford care. Her dismissive approach has only deepened frustration among Iowans who feel ignored while facing the real-world consequences of her votes in Congress.
“Like many Iowans, I’m struggling to keep up with rising costs while health care becomes increasingly unaffordable,” wrote Jill. “That’s why I traveled to Washington, D.C., to tell Mariannette Miller-Meeks directly how her policies are affecting me and my neighbors. When I tried to share my story, she responded by saying, ‘I’m not going to talk to you.’ If this is how she treats a constituent, how can we trust that she will fight for us?”
As families across Iowa continue dealing with rising health care costs, Miller-Meeks’ new ad is attempting to paper over a record that has consistently prioritized Trump and tax breaks for wealthy interests over the health and financial stability of working Iowans.