Medicaid

• KFF Health News: Extra Fees Drive Assisted Living Profits

  November 21, 2023: Assisted living centers have become an appealing retirement option for hundreds of thousands of boomers who can no longer live independently, promising a cheerful alternative to the institutional feel of a nursing home. But their cost is so crushi...Read more >

• Apple, Bose and Others Pump Up the Volume on Hearing Aid Options, Filling Void Left by FDA

  August 31, 2021: Spurred by decades of complaints about the high cost of hearing aids, Congress passed a law in 2017 to allow over-the-counter sales, with hopes it would boost competition and lower prices. Four years later, federal regulators have yet to issue...Read more >

• KHN: Biden Seeks $400 Billion to Buttress Long-Term Care. A Look at What’s at Stake.

  April 12, 2021: There’s widespread agreement that it’s important to help older adults and people with disabilities remain independent as long as possible. But are we prepared to do what’s necessary, as a nation, to make this possible? That’s the challenge...Read more >

• KHN: Covid Cases Plummet 83% Among Nursing Home Staffers Despite Vaccine Hesitancy

  March 15, 2021:   Joan Phillips, a certified nursing assistant in a Florida nursing home,  loved her job but dreaded the danger of going to work in the pandemic. When vaccines became available in December, she jumped at the chance to get one. Months ...Read more >

• KHN: Reopening of Long-Term Care Facilities Is ‘an Absolute Necessity for Our Well-Being’

  March 08, 2021:   For nearly a year, nursing homes and assisted living centers have been mostly closed to visitors. Now, it’s time for them to open back up and relieve residents of crushing isolation, according to a growing chorus of long-term care exp...Read more >

• Joni Ernst Confirms Healthcare Opponents to Lifetime Court Vacancies – Endangering Lives

  July 13, 2020: DISCLAIMER: This article was published by the Washington Times which is rated as a QUESTIONABLE SOURCE by Media Bias/Fact Check, meaning it: "exhibits one or more of the following: extreme bias, consistent promotion of propaganda/conspiracies, poor...Read more >

• Sue Vogel – ACA Impact on Seniors

  July 06, 2020:   On June 25th, Trump’s Department Of Justice (DOJ) and Republican-led states are submitting their briefs in support of California v. Texas, the lawsuit seeking to strike down the ACA. If President Trump and Republicans have their way, 20 m...Read more >

• Iowa ARA VP Kay Pence – Pandemic Exposes Need for Lower Drug Prices & Reigning in Big Pharma

  June 08, 2020:   Finally, some good health care news. The American Society of Clinical Oncology recently reported that there were fewer cancer deaths in states that expanded health care through the Affordable Care Act (ACA). They compared cancer deaths in 2...Read more >

• Senator Joni Ernst’s Anti-Retiree Voting Record

  May 20, 2020:   Shame on Senator Joni Ernst who earned a 20% score on retiree issues for 2019. We will remember this.   The Alliance for Retired Americans’ annual voting record scores every U.S. Representative and Senator on issues affect...Read more >

• Jerry Hageman – Ernst Still Has a Ways to Go – Letter To The Editor

  May 18, 2020: U.S. Sen. Joni Ernst, a retired military colonel, serving her first term, has come a long way from Red Oak since 1970. I also applaud her service as county auditor and state senator and am sure she has all Iowans' interests at heart. I live and work...Read more >