Southeast Iowa health care providers and experts will discuss how upcoming rule changes to Medicaid health may affect area patients and facilities at a Fairfield forum on Sunday, January 25.
The program, organized by nonprofit advocacy groups the Rural Restoration Project and Jefferson County Indivisible, will be 2 to 4 p.m. at the Cambridge Learning Center on the Jefferson County Fairgrounds, 2602 W. Burlington Ave.
The One Big Beautiful Bill Act, passed in July 2025, includes numerous changes to Medicaid, which provides health insurance for low-income Americans. The bill is expected to cut Medicaid costs by almost $900 billion over the next decade. The largest part of those cuts is expected to come from a rule requiring states to verify recipients’ work status at least once every six months. The provision, which takes effect January 1, 2027, requires Medicaid recipients to prove they worked at least 80 hours per month unless they meet one of several exemption criteria. The rules apply to those who received Medicaid when eligibility for the program was expanded under the Affordable Care Act, known as Obamacare.
The Congressional Budget Office estimates that most of the expected savings will come from people dropping out of Medicaid, with an estimated 4.8 million losing health insurance by 2034. That includes 69,000 Iowans, many in rural areas, according to projections from KFF, a nonprofit, nonpartisan health care research organization.
Those cuts could represent significant income losses for small rural hospitals, most of which serve large Medicaid-dependent populations. The program provides as much as a quarter of receipts for some facilities. Confirmed speakers include:
- Kerri Rupe, Ph.D., an advanced registered nurse practitioner (ARNP) and professor emerita at the University of Iowa School of Nursing.
- Jacob Dobbs, director of Emergency Medical Services for Henry County.
- Kyla Yates, ARNP at Van Buren County Hospital in Keosauqua. Yates previously worked as a certified nursing assistant and nurse manager at a local nursing home, where she oversaw meeting Medicaid and Medicare requirements for reimbursement.
- Former Ottumwa Mayor Rick Johnson, retired chief executive of River Hills Community Health Center and former Iowa Department of Health and Human Services employee.
Each speaker will make a brief statement before taking questions. Leaders from Iowa Senate District 44, which includes Keokuk, Jefferson, Van Buren and Henry counties and part of Mahaska County, founded the Rural Restoration Project to build economic and social opportunities in the area through education and advocacy.
Jefferson County Indivisible is a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization dedicated to promoting a healthy democracy in partnership with the national Indivisible movement.