Jeremy Taylor, a Republican challenging U.S. Rep. Steve King, R-Iowa, in the Iowa 4th Congressional District’s Republican primary, responded to J.D. Scholten’s statement that he supports Medicare for All during his town hall in Goldfield, Iowa as first reported by Caffeinated Thoughts.
Scholten is the Democratic candidate in the race and he is currently unopposed for the Democratic nomination.
Scholten said that he supported all of the Democratic presidential candidate health care plans include Medicare for All, but recognized it would need to be implemented in several steps.
“JD Scholten’s support for so-called ‘Medicare for all’ will bankrupt our country, reduce access to care, and destroy our health care system. Scholten’s socialist health care plan would cost $34 trillion in the first decade, according to the Democrat-leaning Urban Institute – more than we spend on all existing entitlements combined,” Taylor said in a released statement.
“That’s just the initial price tag. When you make something ‘free,’ you increase demand. More people trying to access cost-free health care will increase the demand by as much as 11 percent, according to the Mercatus Center. More people thinking they’re getting something for free means longer wait times and restrictions on services.
“And because Medicare currently reimburses hospitals and doctors at rates 40% lower than private insurers, Scholten’s plan would necessitate massive cuts to health care services,” Taylor added.
“JD Scholten’s socialized medicine would be disastrous for taxpayers and catastrophic for our health. He owes it to the people of the 4th Congressional District to explain how he’s going to pay for his plan and who he will raise taxes on to meet the $34 trillion dollar budget shortfall,” he concluded.
Taylor is an Army National Guard chaplain in the 734th RSG and is currently serving his second term as a supervisor in the 4th District’s largest county, Woodbury County. He also served in the Iowa House of Representatives.