Medicaid’s problem? Not patients, but politicians

I’ve seen Medicaid save more lives than politics ever will — and what’s really undermining it isn’t misuse by patients. It’s misuse by Congress.

Fraud accounts for less than 1% of Medicaid spending. But Congress just passed the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which slashes Medicaid by over $1 trillion. That doesn’t fix the system. It rigs it against the very people it was designed to help.

I respect any nurse with decades of service, but blaming “able-bodied” patients for the strain on Medicaid ignores the truth. Here in Iowa, Medicaid keeps rural hospitals open, funds school-based therapy, and pays for over half of our nursing home beds. The people I care for aren’t abusing the system — they’re surviving because of it.

If lawmakers like Rep. Miller-Meeks or Sens. Grassley and Ernst want to preserve Medicaid, they shouldn’t make it harder to access. They should fund it, strengthen it, and stop vilifying the patients who rely on it.

True integrity isn’t kicking patients off coverage. It’s building a system that works for them.

The problem with Medicaid isn’t the patients — it’s the politicians.

Christopher R. Crossett, DNP, MBA, MSN, RN, CRRN

Cedar Rapids