Latest news with #MariannetteMiller-Meeks
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
4TR WEB EXTRA: Miller-Meeks addresses provision to weaken courts & potential town hall
Thanks for clicking on this Web Extra. We didn't have time to bring you all of Host Jim Niedelman's conversation with Iowa Congresswoman Mariannette Miller-Meeks on 4 the Record. Here we move away from the changes to Medicaid and the Affordable Care Act to a small provision titled Restriction of Funds that's in the Republicans' budget proposal. It has to do with the power of the courts. Another provision is Section 70302 at the end of the immigration section. It essentially says the courts can't use government money to enforce a contempt citation for failing to comply with an injunction or temporary restraining order unless the plaintiffs put up a security bond up front to cover the expense of enforcement. That would basically enable the president and his team to ignore or defy court orders. Host Jim Niedelman brings back Representative Mariannette Miller-Meeks. 'As we learned when we made our trips to the border, people don't come back for their asylum hearing,' Miller-Meeks said. To hear more, click on the video. Local 4 News, your local election headquarters, is proud to present , a weekly news and public affairs program focused on the issues important to you. It's a program unlike any other here in the Quad Cities. Tune in each Sunday at 10:30 a.m. as brings you up to speed on what's happening in the political arena, from Springfield, Des Moines, Washington, D.C. and right here at home. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
08-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
National Democrats to target 3 GOP Iowa Congress members in the 2026 midterm election
National Democrats are targeting three Iowa congressional races as they work to identify vulnerable Republicans and prepare their 2026 election strategy. The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee announced Tuesday it's eyeing races in Iowa's 1st, 2nd and 3rd congressional districts — seats currently represented by Republican U.S. Reps. Mariannette Miller-Meeks, Ashley Hinson and Zach Nunn respectively. 'Mariannette Miller-Meeks, Ashley Hinson and Zach Nunn are running scared, and they should be," DCCC chair Suzan DelBene said in a statement provided to the Des Moines Register. "From tanking the economy, gutting Medicaid, abandoning our veterans, to making everything more expensive, they've broken their promises to Iowans, and it's going to cost them their seats." DelBene said her organization "is already working to recruit authentic and battle-ready candidates in Iowa who reflect these districts and will work to better Iowans' lives, not line Elon Musk and their D.C. party bosses' pockets.' A trio of legislative Democrats have publicly expressed interest in running against Nunn. They include state Sen. Sarah Trone Garriott, House Minority Leader Jennifer Konfrst and state Rep. Austin Baeth. But it's not yet clear which Democrats might run for the 1st and 2nd District seats. Historically, the results of midterm elections have favored the party that does not control the White House. Democrats in Iowa and across the country hope that bodes well for their chances in 2026, even after an especially disappointing 2024 cycle. Republicans have dominated recent elections in Iowa. But in 2018, the midterm year during Trump's first term, the state sent three Democrats to Congress as a wave of discontent rippled across the country. 'They're not listening': With GOP lawmakers absent, people's town halls channel Iowans' fury The National Republican Congressional Committee has also targeted its own list of vulnerable Democrats, proclaiming itself "on offense" as it looks to maintain and grow its majority in 2026. 'House Republicans are in the majority and on offense,' NRCC Chair Richard Hudson said in a March 17 statement. 'Meanwhile, vulnerable House Democrats have been hard at work demonstrating they are painfully out of touch with hardworking Americans. Republicans are taking the fight straight to these House Democrats in their districts, and we will unseat them next fall.' The Cook Political Report has called Iowa's 1st District contest a 'toss-up' race, their most competitive ranking. It comes after Miller-Meeks clinched her 2024 victory by only about 800 votes in a district Republican President Donald Trump won by 9 percentage points. In the 3rd District, Nunn performed about on par with Trump, defeating his Democratic challenger by about 4 percentage points. Still, Trump's 4-point margin of victory in the 3rd District made it his worst district in the state. He won Iowa overall by about 13 percentage points. Cook Political Report is ranking that race as one that "leans" in favor of Republicans. But in a surprise, the DCCC is also putting a target on Hinson in the 2nd District. Hinson comfortably won her last reelection by 15 percentage points in the district Trump won by about 9.7 percentage points. Cook Political Report does not list the race among those it considers competitive. According to a news release, adding all three Republicans to the DCCC's "Districts in Play" list "sends the clear message that Democrats will ensure Iowa voters know of these vulnerable Republicans' continued embrace of Elon Musk's extremism and their party's dangerously far-right agenda that's raising costs, destroying jobs, eroding Iowans' freedoms and hurting our country's future." The House Majority PAC, which works to elect Democrats, announced late last year it would also target the 1st and 3rd Districts. In its announcement, the DCCC did not mention Trump, who decisively won Iowa. Instead, it twice highlighted tech billionaire Elon Musk, who Trump has tapped to lead the Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, which has been responsible for slashing government spending and implementing mass layoffs across the federal government. The choice to emphasize Musk highlights a possible messaging strategy as Democrats work to create a winning argument against the status quo. Musk has become the focal point of their ire as polling shows he is more unpopular than Trump. And it comes after Musk campaigned aggressively and funneled about $20 million into a Wisconsin Supreme Court race on behalf of the conservative-leaning candidate who lost, prompting political observers to call him a liability for Republicans. "Musk is becoming a drag on Trump, and his role in these cuts and where he wants to direct them are becoming a liability and a vulnerability for the administration," Evan Roth Smith, lead pollster for Blueprint Polling, a Democratic-aligned firm, told USA TODAY. Miller-Meeks in particular has worked to align herself with Musk and his government-slashing agenda, joining the House DOGE caucus. And Hinson has cheered Musk's efforts, saying "this is exactly what the federal government needs." Brianne Pfannenstiel is the chief politics reporter for the Des Moines Register. Reach her at bpfann@ or 515-284-8244. Follow her on X at @brianneDMR. This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: National Democrats' targets include Reps. Miller-Meeks, Hinson, Nunn
Yahoo
25-03-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Suicide prevention bill honors late FCI Thomson officer
A suicide prevention bill introduced in congress today comes two years after a guard at Thomson prison died by suicide. Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks reintroduced the Corrections Officer Blake Schwarz Suicide Prevention Act (H.R.9929). The legislation is to provide mental health support for corrections officers across the country. The bill establishes a grant program through the U.S. Department of Justice to fund mental health screenings and referrals for officers in federal, state and local bill is named after officer Blake Schwarz, who died by suicide in 2023. For more information, click here. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
18-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Bipartisan bill seeks to stop pharmacy middlemen from driving up drug costs for financial gain
FIRST ON FOX: A bipartisan group of lawmakers is pushing to reform the incentive structure for Pharmacy Benefit Managers (PBMs), arguing that it drives up patient costs by encouraging them to favor higher-priced drugs while withholding potential savings. Led by physician and GOP Iowa Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks, the group introduced the "Delinking Revenue from Unfair Gouging (DRUG) Act" on Tuesday, requiring that PBMs in the commercial market only charge a flat fee for their services related to a specific prescription drug, versus letting them continue to charge a percentage of the drug price. PBMs are third-party intermediaries between insurance companies, drug manufacturers and pharmacies that serve to control drug prices and access. The current incentive structure for PBMs, according to the DRUG Act's sponsors, encourages them to drive up the list price of drugs to increase profits. "Pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) have excessive influence over the prices patients pay at the pharmacy counter," said Miller-Meeks. "Local Iowa pharmacies are closing due to greedy PBM practices, impacting proximity and access to medications for Iowans. The DRUG Act will put downward pressure on prescription drug prices and insurance premiums by removing the incentive for PBMs to drive up the list price of medications." I'm A Healthcare Ceo Who Has Fought Medication Middlemen. Then My Daughter's Condition Made It Personal. According to the Iowa Pharmacy Association, PBMs have been using opaque reimbursement models that often pay back pharmacies less than the list cost of a drug and the services provided to dispense it. Read On The Fox News App As a result of these practices, pharmacies in Iowa and across the country have been forced to close, the association said in a January report. Twenty-nine Iowa pharmacies and 2,300 pharmacies nationwide closed their doors in 2024, according to the association. While PBMs have played important roles in making drugs more widely available, through decades of mergers and acquisitions, the three largest PBMs now manage nearly 80% of all prescriptions filled in the U.S., according to a 2024 report from the Federal Trade Commission. California Exploiting Medicaid 'Loophole' To Pay Billions For Illegal Immigrants' Healthcare, Study Says The DRUG Act's reforms serve to address this anti-competitiveness, which the bill's sponsors say will also help lower costs. "Pharmacy Benefit Managers (PBMs) contribute to high drug costs because they are incentivized to steer patients towards drugs that are more profitable for PBMs, but may be less clinically effective for consumers," said Rep. Nannette Barragán, D-Calif., one of the bill's co-sponsors. "This broken system disproportionately harms low-income individuals, seniors, and those with chronic illnesses who rely on life-saving prescriptions to manage their health." Rep. Donald Norcross, D-N.J., another co-sponsor of the DRUG Act, said families in his district "are crying out for relief from high prescription drug prices." "Americans deserve access to quality health care and affordable prescription drugs," Norcross said. "The DRUG Act reins in prescription drug prices by removing the incentive for pharmacy benefit managers to drive up costs, increasing transparency and prioritizing patients over profits."Original article source: Bipartisan bill seeks to stop pharmacy middlemen from driving up drug costs for financial gain
Fox News
18-03-2025
- Business
- Fox News
Bipartisan bill seeks to stop pharmacy middlemen from driving up drug costs for financial gain
FIRST ON FOX: A bipartisan group of lawmakers is pushing to reform the incentive structure for Pharmacy Benefit Managers (PBMs), arguing that it drives up patient costs by encouraging them to favor higher-priced drugs while withholding potential savings. Led by physician and GOP Iowa Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks, the group introduced the "Delinking Revenue from Unfair Gouging (DRUG) Act" on Tuesday, requiring that PBMs in the commercial market only charge a flat fee for their services related to a specific prescription drug, versus letting them continue to charge a percentage of the drug price. PBMs are third-party intermediaries between insurance companies, drug manufacturers and pharmacies that serve to control drug prices and access. The current incentive structure for PBMs, according to the DRUG Act's sponsors, encourages them to drive up the list price of drugs to increase profits. "Pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) have excessive influence over the prices patients pay at the pharmacy counter," said Miller-Meeks. "Local Iowa pharmacies are closing due to greedy PBM practices, impacting proximity and access to medications for Iowans. The DRUG Act will put downward pressure on prescription drug prices and insurance premiums by removing the incentive for PBMs to drive up the list price of medications." According to the Iowa Pharmacy Association, PBMs have been using opaque reimbursement models that often pay back pharmacies less than the list cost of a drug and the services provided to dispense it. As a result of these practices, pharmacies in Iowa and across the country have been forced to close, the association said in a January report. Twenty-nine Iowa pharmacies and 2,300 pharmacies nationwide closed their doors in 2024, according to the association. While PBMs have played important roles in making drugs more widely available, through decades of mergers and acquisitions, the three largest PBMs now manage nearly 80% of all prescriptions filled in the U.S., according to a 2024 report from the Federal Trade Commission. The DRUG Act's reforms serve to address this anti-competitiveness, which the bill's sponsors say will also help lower costs. "Pharmacy Benefit Managers (PBMs) contribute to high drug costs because they are incentivized to steer patients towards drugs that are more profitable for PBMs, but may be less clinically effective for consumers," said Rep. Nannette Barragán, D-Calif., one of the bill's co-sponsors. "This broken system disproportionately harms low-income individuals, seniors, and those with chronic illnesses who rely on life-saving prescriptions to manage their health." Rep. Donald Norcross, D-N.J., another co-sponsor of the DRUG Act, said families in his district "are crying out for relief from high prescription drug prices." "Americans deserve access to quality health care and affordable prescription drugs," Norcross said. "The DRUG Act reins in prescription drug prices by removing the incentive for pharmacy benefit managers to drive up costs, increasing transparency and prioritizing patients over profits."
