Protect Our Care Illinois strongly condemns the Republican House Budget passed this week that calls for massive cuts in health coverage to pay for huge tax cuts for wealthy households and businesses. This budget betrays our values and would cause tragic health consequences for millions.
President Trump made a specific pledge to not cut Medicaid, which provides health coverage for 72 million people. The House Republicans state that they only want to cut fraud and abuse in the Medicaid program and not cut actual benefits for “people who deserve them.” But the enormity of program cuts called for by the House budget are impossible to implement without deeply cutting Medicaid and devastating healthcare coverage for millions.
While we should not despair, we need to act now and keep the pressure up to ensure that not one person loses health coverage to pay for tax cuts for the ultra wealthy. We need to make our voices heard and tell the Senate to reject the House cuts – both now – and if Congress ultimately moves ahead with a second budget plan and reconciliation bill this year.
The cost of extending tax cuts for households with incomes in the top 1 percent — $1.1 trillion through 2034 — equals roughly the same amount as the proposed potential cuts for health coverage under Medicaid and food assistance under the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). The House budget would require the Energy and Commerce Committee to cut at least $880 billion. The magnitude of these reductions would force congressional committees to make enormous cuts in Medicaid, SNAP, student loan assistance and other vital sources of support when they develop the “reconciliation” spending and tax bill that follows the budget resolution.
These cuts would increase costs, hardship, and poverty for individuals and families across the country. The specific proposals that House Republicans have been considering for weeks to make these program cuts are not just about curbing fraud and abuse, as they claim. Their proposals to cap federal funding, shift costs to states, or impose harsh work requirements that trip people up with red tape aimed at cutting health coverage and food assistance for honest people who need help, not reducing fraud.
Keep calling your elected officials and telling them that this budget cannot stand and that no cuts to Medicaid should be made. The thousands of calls we’ve made, the letters we’ve sent, and the rallies we’ve held were not in vain. We are hearing that Congress is getting more phone calls than ever before on a single issue and the Speaker of the House has said that he’s hearing from members angry about the Medicaid cuts and that he needs to find a solution to pass a bill that the Senate will agree to. Our efforts are working and we need to keep them going. The time is NOW!
Dial 866-426-2631 now to call your representatives in Congress, telling them that ANY cuts to the Medicaid program are unacceptable–click here for a script and other useful tips for calling Congress.
