Articles Tagged: Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services

The latest analysis of federal data on nursing home staffing shows the overwhelming majority of nursing homes in Iowa and the United States are operating with less than the recommended staff to meet residents’ needs.

Iowa U.S. Sen. Joni Ernst is serving her second, six-year term representing Iowa in the U.S. Senate and is up for re-election in 2026. She has not formally launched a re-election campaign, but her announcement Wednesday of a campaign manager sends a clear signal that the Republican incumbent is building an operation to run for a third term.

In the video posted on her Instagram, U.S. Sen. Joni Ernst speaks directly to the camera while apparently walking through a cemetery. She says, “I made an incorrect assumption that everyone in the auditorium understood that yes, we are all going to perish from this Earth.”

Iowa U.S. Sen. Joni Ernst was being criticized Friday after a comment she made earlier in the day during a town hall meeting in Parkersburg. While answering a question about proposed cuts to Medicaid, a member of the audience yelled “people will die.” Ernst responded, “Well, we all are going to die.”

Republican Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks, who was in Davenport for a campaign fundraiser Thursday, said of Medicaid recipients who would lose coverage because they don’t meet proposed work requirements and don’t qualify for an exception, “that's their choice to lose coverage.”

Doctors, nurses, food bank directors and other social safety net providers across Iowa warn major cuts to public health insurance and food assistance programs could lead to crowded emergency rooms, more rural hospital closures, drained family budgets, overworked providers and reduce care for veterans, seniors and children.

Iowa, with 3.2 million residents, has a total of about 760 inpatient mental health beds that are staffed to care for patients. The Treatment Advocacy Center says the “absolute minimum” of such beds would translate to about 960 for Iowa’s population, and the optimal number would be about 1,920.

Two Eastern Iowa lawmakers are doubling down on their support of a massive package of tax breaks and spending cuts despite pushback from Democrats — as well as some of their Republican peers.

Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks’ tele-town hall Tuesday evening came nearly a week after she committed to hosting an in-person town hall in her southeast Iowa district. She has not held an in-person town hall meeting this year, and protests across Iowa’s 1st Congressional District have called on her to do so.

During a public comment meeting Wednesday, Iowans voiced their frustration and concern over a proposal by Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds to require most able-bodied Medicaid recipients to work at least 100 hours per month.

Also, a bill mandating the creation of a Center for Intellectual Freedom at the University of Iowa heads to the governor.

Iowans raised concerns over record-high egg prices, sweeping reciprocal tariffs on U.S. imports and cuts to the Social Security Administration during a telephone town hall Wednesday evening hosted by Iowa Republican U.S. Rep. Ashley Hinson.

As politicians demand that more Medicaid recipients work, many people with disabilities say their state programs’ income and asset caps force them to limit their work hours or turn down promotions.

Also, Health Insurance Marketplace open enrollment begins Friday

A state agency says it plans to release quarterly updates on its progress in meeting federal requirements for nursing home inspections after questions were raised by Iowa’s State Auditor.