Democrat Josh Turek says if he’s elected to the U.S. Senate, he’ll vote to increase funding for cancer research and for Medicaid, the government funded insurance program that many cancer patients rely upon.
“If I only got one thing done in the U.S. Senate, I would love to arrive at a public option so every American, every Iowan has access to care,” Turek said during a forum in Cedar Rapids yesterday, “and I would love to, even if it means only six years in the Senate, coming back and saying, ‘We made meaningful progress on this cancer issue.'”
Iowa has the nation’s second highest rate of new cancer cases. The American Cancer Society estimates nearly 23,000 Iowans will be diagnosed with some form of cancer this year. During the forum hosted by the group’s Cancer Action Network, Turek said addressing water quality issues is an important part to reducing Iowa’s cancer rate. “Whether you’re a Republican, an independent or a Democrat, every single Iowan deserves access to drinkable water and we shouldn’t be in these rural communities, with no health care clinics as we’re closing them down, and people worried about: ‘Am I going to get cancer from drinking this water?’ No, that is wrong,” Turek said. “That should not be happening in the richest country on Earth and so let’s prioritize this. Let’s work together. Let’s solve this problem.”
Turek said there should be more government funding for water quality sensors and nitrate removal plants. “I would like to see more incentives to farmers, legitimate incentives for cover crops, land barriers,” Turek said, “and preventing farmers from putting down fertilizer in the winter months.”
Turek’s grandmother died of pancreatic cancer, his father was diagnosed with two types of cancer likely due to his exposure to Agent Orange during his service in Vietnam and Turek’s sister was recently diagnosed with breast cancer. Turek said her private insurance denied her doctor’s recommendation for a PET scan to determine if the cancer had spread. “Cancer has been something that has touched my life and I feel very deeply about it,” Turek said. “I would love to see guardrails on insurance companies because I believe that doctors should be deciding care, not insurance companies.”
Iowa congressional candidates and the two candidates running for governor have appeared at similar events hosted by the Cancer Action Network. A spokesman for Turek’s opponent, Republican Congresswoman Ashley Hinson, says she’s working to schedule a similar meeting with the group.