Editor’s note: Today is AFSCME’s Lower Health Care Costs Day of Action. After reading Iowa Corrections Sgt. Dani Adams’ story, take a moment to call your member of Congress and demand they restore the health care funding and lower health care costs.
Dani Adams puts her personal safety on the line every day. A corrections sergeant at the Iowa State Penitentiary and president of AFSCME Local 2989 (Council 61), Adams is a proud public service worker. She knows that she and her co-workers provide safety and stability to their community.
But for their own medical care, they rely on Great River Health. But that Iowa hospital system might have to cut staff or services because of the so-called “Big, Beautiful Bill.”
“In places like Fort Madison, or Burlington, or other towns in Southeast Iowa, there’s not a lot of places left for us to go, especially if hospitals cut services or, worse, close,” she said.
Adams discussed her concerns at a virtual press event Thursday. She urged Congress to prevent a massive health insurance premium hike on millions of Americans. And she urged lawmakers to prevent rural hospitals that communities like hers depend on from shutting down.
The event featured members of Congress, including pro-worker lawmakers like Reps. Shontel Brown of Ohio and Janelle Bynum of Oregon, who are fighting to lower health care costs for working people. Union members, rural workers and organizers also joined the call to send a message to save our care.
The “Big Beautiful Bill” is the measure yes-men in Congress and the administration pushed through to give massive tax cuts to billionaires and corporations at the expense of working people, senior citizens and other vulnerable Americans.
If Congress fails to extend the Affordable Care Act (ACA) premium tax credits before the end of this year, 22 million Americans will see massive health insurance premium hikes, and 130,000 people will lose their jobs, according to an advisory announcing the event.
In addition, the so-called “Big Beautiful Bill” cut $8 billion in aid to Disproportionate Share Hospitals, which provide essential health care for low-income patients, Medicaid enrollees, and the uninsured, primarily in rural areas.
“What happens when wait times stretch into hours, or the ER becomes overwhelmed?” Adams asked. “What happens to our families, to our elderly neighbors, to the pregnant moms who don’t have another option? What happens when one of my co-workers gets hurt on the job?”
Adams said the potential for health care costs to rise dramatically — on top of ongoing price increases for groceries, rent and gas — could force corrections officers in rural America to make some tough decisions.
Corrections officers like her, she said, “could be forced to leave this work, or even our community entirely. Either way, it means less public safety and more instability in small towns like ours.”
Congress must restore funding to our hospitals and protect our health care insurance. Join the fight. It’s time to Get Organized, it’s time to GO!