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Not only would changes proposed in AHCA reverse gains in coverage, but they would end Medicaid as we know it.

The Iowa experience should serve as a warning to other states about what will happen if the American Health Care Act becomes law.

“As President Trump prepares to visit our state next week, he should be aware of the severe impact that his proposals would have on many tens of thousands of Iowa families.”

For Iowa to pick up lost Medicaid coverage for vulnerable residents if the House health proposal becomes law, it would cost the state three times what it would spend under current rules. Millions across the country would lose coverage as states would not be able to absorb the cost.

Repealing the ACA without an adequate replacement jeopardizes the health care coverage and economic well-being of the most vulnerable Iowans.

Iowa’s expansion of Medicaid has increased access to health care for thousands. These latest census findings set a baseline for an evaluation of the impact of privatization of Medicaid that Governor Branstad imposed this year.

When the 2016 session began, Iowa faced a host of critical challenges. This session has done little to ease any of the major concerns, and nothing to meet them for the long term.

The new health-coverage data show Iowans gaining both in public coverage, which would include the expansion of Medicaid resulting from the Affordable Care Act, and in private coverage.

Over half the jobs in Iowa pay less than what is needed by many families to achieve basic self-sufficiency. Work support programs are important — but “cliffs” in those programs can send a family’s total resources plummeting with even a small increase in income.

Even with better health insurance coverage than most states, a quarter of a million Iowans were without insurance in 2013. Public policies now in place — including Obamacare — should reduce that.