Advocates from Protect Our Care Illinois are driving a mobile, digital billboard through the 16th District, urging residents to call U.S. Rep. Darin LaHood (IL-16) to express their disapproval of Medicaid cuts in the Trump-backed federal budget bill that passed the Senate Tuesday. According to the group, more than 24,000 people in Illinois’ 16th Congressional District will lose health care coverage under the bill’s current Medicaid cuts.

Citizen Action/Illinois Executive Director Anusha Thotakura called on LaHood to vote against the bill.

“Rep. LaHood has a choice: he can stand with the 139,000 people in his district who rely on Medicaid, or he can vote to take health care away from children, seniors, and people with disabilities. These cuts are cruel, shortsighted, and would devastate families and local hospitals, all to fund tax breaks for billionaires and big corporations. His constituents deserve to know what’s at stake and call on him to do the right thing.”

In March, the Protect Our Care Illinois hosted a virtual press conference, with constituents from U.S. Rep. Mike Bost (IL-12), Rep. Mary Miller (IL-15), and LaHood’s districts.

“When Congressman Bost voted to cut Medicaid, he didn’t just target a government program — he put real people in our community at risk. Over 192,900 people in this district rely on Medicaid to stay healthy, to stay working, and to keep their families stable. Cutting Medicaid is shortsighted and dangerous. I saw patients die for lack of care and I fear this becomes our reality,” said retired emergency room physician Dr. Kathy Wides, who lives in Bost’s district.

“As an ICU nurse, I know that when people skip preventive care, they are more likely to end up in my care — and by then, the damage is often too severe. Without Medicaid, more people will show up in our emergency rooms in crisis, and the costs of their care will skyrocket. This isn’t just a health care issue; it’s a financial one. Health conditions don’t discriminate between rural or urban, Democrat or Republican. I’m calling on my representative, Mary Miller, to hear the people who elected her and put them first, to protect Medicaid and reject these dangerous cuts,” said ICU Nurse Grace Kistner, who lives in Miller’s district.

The Senate’s amendments to the bill could be considered by the House as early as Wednesday.

A link to the billboard’s recording can be found HERE.