Nunn backed a $1T Medicaid cut and Iowa hospitals are feeling the pain

Iowa Rep. Zach Nunn said it was a “myth” that Medicaid cuts would lead to hospital closures. Less than a year later, seven of his state’s medical facilities have shut their doors, laid off staff, or reduced services.

All of these reductions are a result of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBB), which Nunn supported. The law will cut $1 trillion from Medicaid by 2034 and is expected to force up to 15 million Americans to lose their health insurance.

Health policy experts warned this cut would be cataclysmic for hospitals and clinics that rely on Medicaid reimbursements as a main source of revenue. Some of the most at-risk facilities are in rural and low-income areas where a large percentage of residents receive Medicaid.

“I think the myth here is that rural hospitals are going to close down,” Nunn told WHO13 News in July 2025, shortly after OBBB became law. “That’s not the case.”

Since making this remark, MercyOne, a Catholic nonprofit that operates multiple medical offices in Iowa, has shut down two facilities in Ottumwa and Traer and reduced staff at two more in Des Moines and Mason City. MercyOne patients in Ottumwa, which is in Nunn’s district, will now need to drive up to an hour to receive medical care.

MercyOne specifically cited Medicaid cuts as a cause of the staff reductions in Des Moines.

“It is not possible to simply absorb such a significant financial impact without making thoughtful, forward-thinking changes,” the nonprofit said in a statement.

In January, the Pella Regional Medical Clinic, which is also in Ottumwa, announced that it was reducing its family and general practitioner offerings. Around the same time, the Southeast Iowa Regional Medical Center in West Burlington stopped providing birthing services.

Despite these outcomes, Nunn has not expressed remorse about supporting OBBB and even bankrolled a series of television ads in August 2025 touting the supposed benefits of the bill.

Nunn is running for a third term this year. He is widely considered to be one of the most vulnerable Republican incumbents facing reelection.