U.S. House GOP budget could gut Medicaid, hitting 3.4 million in Illinois
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U.S. House Republicans passed a budget resolution last week that could cut Medicaid, a health care program that 73 million people across the U.S., including 3.4 million Illinoisans, rely on.
The big picture: The plan calls for about $1.7 trillion in federal spending cuts and directs the Energy and Commerce Committee to cut $880 billion over the next decade, which would be nearly impossible without Medicaid taking the hit.
Between the lines: Some Republicans, especially those from rural areas that rely heavily on Medicaid, have raised flags about how the cuts would affect their constituents, and President Trump has promised not to eliminate it but to cut Medicaid fraud.
How it works: The federal government matches state money to fund Medicaid, but it falls to the state to determine eligibility and administer the program.
- People covered include low-income parents and children, people who are blind or disabled, young adults who have aged out of foster care and immigrants.
- You must be a U.S. citizen or an immigrant who has lived in the U.S. with legal permanent resident status for at least five years, but if you don't have that, your children could still be eligible.
Between the lines: Adults aged 19-64 whose income is up to 138% of the federal poverty level, or about $1,366 a month, and couples whose income is about $1,845 a month, are especially vulnerable to cuts.
- That's because this group has Medicaid through the Affordable Care Act, and the resolution would eliminate the ACA's 90% federal match to states, according to an analysis by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.
What they're saying: "We're fighting cuts when we really should be figuring out how to increase funding for these services that, in both the short and the long term, really save money," Mark Ishaug, head of Thresholds, told Axios.
- Thresholds serves nearly 10,000 people in Illinois with mental illnesses and substance use conditions and about half of their $130 million annual budget is through Medicaid.
- Ishaug says preventative care provided by Medicaid keeps "people out of nursing homes, people out of the hospital and the emergency rooms, out of long term care, and just as importantly, out of jail and prison."
- "I have always said in my career that budgets, public budgets, nonprofit budgets, these are moral documents," Ishaug said. "What came out of the House last week was immoral."
Zoom in: Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker was in Washington, D.C., and on national TV last week detailing how cuts would affect Illinois, including damages to the economy. Pritzker's office said Illinois' health care systems, most of which serve Medicaid enrollees, generate about $117 billion for the state each year.
The other side: Illinois Republican U.S. Rep. Darin LaHood said he voted for the resolution because "it serves as the blueprint for extending President Trump's historic tax cuts, securing our southern border, bolstering our military, unleashing American energy, and setting us on a path toward responsible government spending for future generations."
- "The 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act created the best economy in my lifetime, yet many of the important changes made to the tax code expire at the end of this year. This would result in a massive tax increase on small businesses and working families — we cannot allow this to happen."
What's next: The resolution now goes to the Senate for a vote but it's unclear when that will happen.