Letter: Republican health insurance proposal not about access

I can remember when Sen. Chuck Grassley expressed concern that Obamacare would cause the government to 'pull the plug on Grandma”. I didn't understand his reasoning, because providing health insurance subsidies to people who otherwise could not afford it would seem to be the opposite of pulling the plug on Grandma.

Sen. Joni Ernst wrote me a letter recently saying that 'Iowans across the state face premium increases as well as increases to deductibles and copays that they simply cannot afford, all because of the ACA”. The Republican proposal will cut Obamacare and Medicaid subsidies and will cause millions of Americans to lose health insurance.

Maybe the Republicans are following the approach Gov. Terry Branstad used to improve mental health care by cutting funding and closing facilities, but his results have been predictably bad. The savings will be used to finance tax cuts for Republican's wealthy sponsors. I don't believe that will really improve health care access for most people.

Glenn Goetz

Amana