The fight’s not over: Protecting our health care now and into the future
Wednesday, Oct. 25
3 p.m. CST

Register today!

Together, we defeated Congressional Republicans’ most recent attack on health care. However, it’s clear our fight to defend the Affordable Care Act and Medicaid must continue.

Join Protect Our Care Illinois on Wednesday, Oct. 25 at 3 p.m. CST to learn the latest developments from Washington, D.C. and Illinois in health care policy and how together we can fight back against the Trump administration’s ACA sabotage efforts. Protect Our Care Illinois partners will share expert insights on CHIP, ACA stabilization, and cost-sharing reductions as well as discuss how advocates can support open enrollment efforts.

Register today to learn about the impact of the FY18 federal budget negotiations and how together we can mobilize our communities to #ProtectOurCare.

Last week, Illinoisans across the state rose up to once again defeat ACA repeal and protect the vital programs our communities depend on. The victory over Graham-Cassidy is something to be proud of, but we must keep up the pressure as Congress moves onto the next phase of its agenda: tax reform.

The tax reform debate will imperil many of the programs we sought to protect over the last year. The House of Representatives plans to take the first step in that process this week by voting on a Budget Resolution that calls for trillions of dollars of tax cuts for the rich financed by gutting Medicaid and Medicare. We must demand that our Representatives stand up to this kind of reverse Robin Hood and oppose this dangerous budget plan.

Call your Representative TODAY at (866) 877-3303 and demand that they oppose the House Budget Resolution and any legislation that cuts Medicaid and Medicare. 

The House Budget Resolution is a radical document calling for the end Medicaid and Medicare as we know it. It slashes Medicaid by over $1 trillion through a per capita cap and the end of Medicaid expansion. And for Medicare, it proposes to cut half a trillion dollars by turning the program into a voucher system. It does all this to provide a $5 trillion windfall of tax cuts for the wealthy.

While the Budget Resolution does not hold the force of law, it is the first step towards unlocking the Budget Reconciliation process that allows the Senate to pass major legislation with only 51 votes, just like the process for the ACA repeal fight. The Reconciliation process could allow Congress to enact many of the extreme measures included in the Budget Resolution and must be opposed at every turn.

Act NOW and call your Representative at (866) 877-3303 to urge their opposition to this drastic proposal! Vote NO on the House Budget Resolution and protect Medicaid and Medicare!

Please check out these resources from our partners at the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities for more information on the House Budget Resolution and the Federal Budget Process.

Protect Our Care Illinois supports the availability of affordable, comprehensive and accessible health care coverage for all Illinois residents regardless of income or immigration status. We are heartened that new health coverage options, including a public option, are now being discussed by the candidates for governor. This is an important public discussion and we are interested in the proposed policies that emerge. We look forward to joining the discussion and supporting policies that will meet our mission and goals moving forward to make Illinois a healthy place to live for all of us.

Today, Senate Republicans will vote on a motion to proceed on a health care bill. 

With just a few hours until the vote, we still do not know exactly what they will vote on. One thing is certain—they will strip health insurance from 22 to 32 million people, destroy insurance markets, gut Medicaid, and give massive tax cuts to the wealthy. 

Protect Our Care Illinois stands with the citizens and activists across the state who refuse to accept this deadly proposal. If the motion to proceed succeeds today people will take to the streets across Illinois at 5pm to protest repealing the ACA and cutting Medicaid. The fight is not over and we will not let this go quietly. JOIN US!

• Chicago: Federal Plaza
• Springfield: Old State Capitol
• Rockford: Federal Building
• Campton Hills: Representative Hultgren’s Office
• Peoria: Federal Court House
• Ottawa: 628 Columbus Street

If you can’t get to one of these rallies, grab a few allies, go where you can and share pictures using #ilsaveaca on Facebook and Twitter!

You can also join this Indivisible Phone Bank to call voters in crucial swing states (West Virginia-Capito & Ohio-Portman) and urge them to call on their Senators to kill the bill.

With the absence of Sen. John McCain, a key Republican, from the Senate this week due to an unscheduled surgery, the Senate is delaying its expected vote on the “Better Care (if you’re Healthy) Reconciliation Act” this week. The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) score of the bill has also been delayed.

We need to take advantage of this time join with advocates from across the country to continue to show the public and elected officials that TrumpCare is unacceptable!

Our message to the Illinois GOP Congressional Delegation is loud and clear:

• Reject this bill and pursue a bipartisan approach that leaves Medicaid alone and addresses our real needs: stabilizing the marketplace and improving affordability.
• Reject any bill that causes large coverage losses, ends Medicaid expansion, caps and cuts the Medicaid program, or guts critical protections for people with health conditions.

Anything less would be breaking their promises to the people of Illinois.

What can you do?

Call the Protect Our Care Illinois hotline to be connected to your member of Congress: 1 866-877-3303 and use these talking points. The phone lines of our GOP House members who voted for the bill should be lighting up.

Join us in several events across the state this week and next:

• July 18, 12 p.m. – Chicago – Healthcare Covenant at Chicago Temple
• July 18, 5:30 p.m. – Springfield – Emergency Die-In: Stop TrumpCare
• July 18, 6 p.m. – Wheaton – Kill the Bill Die-In
• July 18, All day – Indivisible Day of Action: Find an event near you
• July 17-18 – Indivisible Chicago: Phone banks to save the ACA
• July 19, 7 p.m. – Healthy Illinois Candidate’s Forum

Protect Our Care Illinois is relieved to have a state budget for the first time since 2015. This action will hopefully begin to bring relief to workers, health and social service providers, community members and others around the state who have suffered under this long-standing budget crisis.

However, right around the corner, another storm is looming: if Congress passes the repeal of the Affordable Care Act – which it could do by the end of this month – our state will be dealt another financial blow. Both the Senate (the Better Care Reconciliation Act) and House (the American Health Care Act) versions of the repeal bill include devastating cuts to the state’s Medicaid program, hitting Illinois with tens of billions of dollars in lost federal funding that will knock out any gains we made by coming to a budget deal and more. Not only that, the bill cuts coverage for over 1 million Illinois residents, increases premiums and deductibles, forcing people to pay 74% more for the same coverage they have now, imposes an age tax – hurting older adults at moderate incomes, guts protections for everyone, and puts over 114,000 jobs in Illinois at risk.

We urge the Governor and our Republican Illinois Congressional Delegation members to say “no” to the cruel and unpopular bill. Illinois cannot afford another step backwards just as we are coming up for air.

Protect Our Care Illinois is now hiring a Coalition Manager.

The Coalition Manager is a key player in Heartland Alliance’s efforts to advance policy solutions and strategies to eliminate poverty, realize human rights, and support individuals and families in their efforts to improve their quality of life. He/she works to achieve policy and systems change that ensures quality health coverage is affordable and available to all people, regardless of their background, health status or life circumstance. The Coalition Manager achieves these aims through the staffing of the Protect Our Care Illinois (POCIL) coalition and execution of the coalition’s campaign strategy.

This position will focus primarily on defending and building upon the expansion of health coverage through the Affordable Care Act (ACA) and Medicaid. The Coalition Manager will provide leadership and support to POCIL, a diverse statewide coalition invested in opposing the near-term threats to the ACA and Medicaid and in building a movement and a constituency who will champion these programs far into the future. Through the engagement of diverse stakeholders, policy research, public education, communications, and advocacy, POCIL will support the gains made in recent coverage expansions and promote the solutions needed to address continued inequity in health care. The Coalition Manager will be responsible for managing the collective work of the POCIL coalition and for developing substantive and strategic expertise on key policies and organizing tactics.

Click here for more information and to apply!

The Protect Our Care Illinois coalition strongly condemns the cruel Senate ACA repeal bill, which is even meaner than the House version and was crafted in unprecedented secrecy. Now we know why: this “Better Care” bill will drastically cut Medicaid, which covers half of all kids in Illinois, people with disabilities and seniors; defund Planned Parenthood and severely restrict insurance coverage for reproductive health care; gut protections for people with pre-existing conditions; and increase deductibles for low- and moderate-income Americans. All while giving huge tax cuts the wealthy and corporations.

This “parade of horribles” helps NO ONE obtain health care but rather strips it away from millions. The Medicaid cuts and caps alone will be devastating to the state of Illinois. Protect Our Care Illinois commends Sens. Durbin and Duckworth for standing in opposition of this draconian proposal. All of the Illinois GOP House members who voted for the House version of the bill should take a serious look at how this bill will decimate their communities, especially rural communities that depend on Medicaid the most for coverage. We urge Gov. Rauner to finally speak up and denounce this harmful and shameful bill.

Tell members of Congress to OPPOSE cuts and caps on Medicaid which will harm children’s health and vital Illinois programs and services!

The Senate is set to move its version of health care reform in June, with a vote likely before the end of the month.  We already know that The American Health Care Act (AHCA) would be disastrous for Illinois children and families. Here’s why:

In addition to Medicaid insuring ½ of all Illinois children, Medicaid is integral to a wide range of programs that serve Illinois children and families. If Medicaid per capita caps go into effect, Illinois would have to make massive cuts to programs that are vital to children’s healthy development and ability to reach their full potential. This means:

• Loss of funding that 1.47 million Medicaid-insured children rely on for mandated child health examinations, including immunizations, developmental screenings, lead screenings, and physical examinations (including vision and hearing), which are required for enrollment in school and early care and education programs– without which enrollment and services for children at risk will drop!
• Pressure on the statewide Early Intervention (EI) program (therapies for children birth to 3 with developmental delays and disabilities) to restrict program eligibility requirements, cut provider rates or grow wait lists because of insufficient funds even though we know that children who have their developmental needs addressed in EI are much less likely to require special education services!
• Massive cuts to statewide Special Education funding, which received approximately $160 million in Medicaid funds in 2016; using state funds to pay for more of our mandated special education services will mean cuts to other school programs and resources that benefit ALL children!
• Defunding of optional vital programs like family case management, school-based health services and Home and Community Based Service waiver programs (3 waiver programs are currently available to all children regardless of income)!

Please take action today to join advocates across Illinois to help stop this attack on Illinois children! Here are some things you can do today!

1. Call your member of Congress at 1-866-877-3303 and demand that they publicly oppose the American Health Care Act (AHCA), and stand up for the 1.47 million children across the state that are Medicaid-insured.
2. Share this email and graphic on social media using #ILSaveACA and #SaveMedicaid. You can also share these Protect Our Care IL graphics and factsheets.

Senate Republicans are working behind closed doors on their version of the American Health Care Act (AHCA). Like the House bill, the “revamped” AHCA would throw millions off of health care and gut Medicaid, harming older Americans, kids and their families, people with disabilities, and those seeking treatment for substance use disorders.

Also, like the House, Senate leadership is doing all they can to rush this secret plan to repeal the Affordable Care Act onto the Senate floor. No committee hearings, no public debate and no expert testimony will take place before this extremely unpopular bill is likely to get a vote in the U.S. Senate in the next few weeks.

Illinois will be among those hit the hardest by the Medicaid cuts. Because of our state’s historically low spending on Medicaid enrollees, putting a cap on our federal funding is an especially bad deal for Illinois. If the Medicaid per capita cap went into effect, Illinois would have to find savings in our program to make up for the loss of funding. This means:

• Rationing care for low-income people, including children with special health care needs and frail seniors;
• Defunding efforts to address public health crises like the opioid epidemic;
• Jeopardizing the health coverage of veterans – 1 out of 10 veterans depend on Medicaid for coverage; and
• Harming communities of color who, because of a long history of oppression and discrimination, face persistent health disparities.

Please take time today, June 14, to join advocates across the country to help us stop this! Here are three things you can do!

1. Call Gov. Rauner at 312-814-2121 and demand that he publicly oppose the AHCA, which will cost Illinois billions of dollars in Medicaid funding and thousands of jobs.
2. Call your Member of Congress at 1-866-877-3303 and demand that they publicly oppose the AHCA. Sens. Durbin and Duckworth are outspoken opponents of the AHCA, but the Senate bill, if approved, will head to the House for a final vote. Calling your House member now is crucial for building a firewall against this bill.
3. Share this email and graphic on social media using #ILSaveACA and #SaveMedicaid. You can also share these Families USA graphics. If you have friends/family in these 10 states, encourage them to call and tweet at their Senators to vote NO on #TrumpCarein2018.