n Illinois, more than one in five rural women of childbearing age rely on Medicaid for health coverage, according to the Georgetown University Center for Children and Families and coverage could be in jeopardy as the program faces massive budget cuts in Congress.

Medicaid pays for half of all births across the state.

Kathy Waligora, deputy director of external affairs for the advocacy group Everthrive Illinois, said rural communities already face health care challenges, including hospitals closing or no longer offering maternity care. She emphasized any threats to the program would leave millions without health insurance and affect health outcomes for women and babies across the state.

Read the full article here: https://www.publicnewsservice.org/2025-05-21/rural/report-medicaid-cuts-risk-maternity-care-for-rural-illinois/a96882-1

“It’s breathtaking the scale of the cut,” said Carrie Chapman, deputy director of program and policy at the Legal Council for Health Justice, which provides legal services to low-income people in Illinois who need access to health care. “It’s certainly really concerning for the health and well-being of Illinoisans to be looking at a cut of this magnitude.”

Illinois Health and Hospital Association President and CEO AJ Wilhelmi said in a statement Thursday that the bill “will have devastating consequences for Illinois hospitals and their patients.”

Read the full article here: https://www.chicagotribune.com/2025/05/16/medicaid-cuts-illinois/

Mervin Dino, Assistant Commissioner at CDPH, speaks with POCIL leaders Anusha Thotakura, Executive Director at Citizen Action Illinois, and Timothy Jackson, Senior Director of Policy and Advocacy with AIDS Foundation of Chicago, about the current state of Medicaid and how advocates have joined forces through Protect Our Care Illinois to respond to proposed changes at the federal level. If you’re wondering if or why you should care about this discussion: You likely know or are someone who utilizes Medicaid, as it provides health coverage for millions of Americans and nearly 1 million Chicagoans. Changes to Medicaid could affect you or your loved ones, and this conversation is a starting point for what you should know and what you can do to get involved and help Chicagoans during this period.

Watch the conversation here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rdyj1_YgGYs

Protestors met outside Congressman Darin LaHood’s office Thursday in Normal to protest potential cuts to Medicare and Medicaid on the federal level. Two dozen people joined Citizen Action Illinois to protest potential cuts to SNAP and Medicare.They spoke about their frustrations with federal cuts and held a moment of prayer and reflection.

As for SNAP, GOP members of the House Agriculture Committee are proposing a $290 billion cut to the program, which helps 42 million people nationwide purchase fresh produce and groceries.

Read more here: https://www.25newsnow.com/2025/05/15/dozens-gather-normal-outside-lahoods-office-protest-potential-federal-cuts-snap-medicare-medicaid/?outputType=amp

Watch the video here: https://www.centralillinoisproud.com/video/advocacy-groups-hold-vigil-outside-u-s-representative-darin-lahoods-office/10721041/

Last night, House Republicans released the text of their reconciliation bill and, as expected, it calls for the largest cut to Medicaid in history. According to the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO), the bill would cause 13.7 million Americans to lose their health coverage.  The sole purpose of this carnage is to fund tax cuts to the ultra-rich. 

President Trump promised he would not touch Medicaid or its benefits – but now we can all see that the GOP in Congress is poised to do just that: to trade our health to put a little more in the pockets of the richest people in the world. Make no mistake, this bill is an all-out attack on our health care system cutting the heart out of both Medicaid and the Affordable Care Act, stripping over 13 million Americans of their coverage, and raising insurance costs and limiting healthcare access for millions. 

These GOP proposed cuts will have massive repercussions for our health care system. People’s health care needs won’t change; state and local governments will just have far less money to cover them. Emergency rooms will see more uninsured individuals. Hospitals and mental health facilities will lay off workers, and will close–impacting not only Medicaid members but everyone with employer-based insurance too. Uninsured workers will not be able to maintain the medication and services they need to remain employed. 

The bill aims to cut Medicaid spending and coverage via harmful Medicaid work reporting requirements, which would force low-income adults to prove they work 80 hours per month to keep Medicaid. The Congressional proposal is even more extreme than what Arkansas implemented in 2018 under which 18,000 eligible people who were meeting the requirements lost coverage in a few months. Work reporting requirements add paperwork obligations and bureaucratic hoops that states’ systems do not have the capacity to handle, which causes health coverage loss even for people who are working. The purpose of these requirements is to increase the red tape so eligible people cannot qualify or maintain coverage.  Read More…

Kelly Griffin had grown tired of living with roommates and reveled in having her own apartment during her senior year at Judson University in Elgin, Illinois.

Kelly has Down’s Syndrome and qualifies for a Medicaid benefit known as Home and Community Based Services. The program paid for a personal service worker to help her succeed at living alone.

More than 3 million Illinois residents like Kelly receive health insurance and long-term care through Medicaid. The joint federal-state program covers low-income people and those with disabilities. But the Trump administration wants to cut $1.5 trillion dollars in federal spending. which according to a report released in March by the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO), won’t be possible without steep cuts to Medicaid.

Read the whole article here: https://ipmnewsroom.org/republicans-have-medicaid-in-their-crosshairs-and-illinois-residents-who-depend-on-it-are-worried/

In what would be a brutal, not “beautiful,” budget bill, Republicans in Washington are plotting to make massive cuts to Medicaid coverage through budget reconciliation so they can give tax breaks to the rich. Covering almost 72 million Americans, Medicaid, America’s largest health insurance program, is so integral to health care finance and delivery that the GOP’s threatened cuts would prompt a deadly domino effect, leading to inferior, more expensive health care — and, therefore, worse health — for virtually all Americans, including those with insurance provided by their employers. The impact wouldn’t just be felt by individuals, but it would also be felt by state governments and by hospitals and health workers.

Read the full op-ed, authored by POCIL leaders from Health and Medicine Policy Research Group and Legal Council for Health Justice, here: https://www.msnbc.com/opinion/msnbc-opinion/medicaid-cuts-republicans-trump-rcna203010

For Marilyn Webster of Jacksonville, Medicaid means being able to work, as opposed to probably having to quit her job to look after her 20-year-old daughter, Rebekah, who has autism with high support needs. Camilla Nicoletta, 23, of Springfield, who has Down’s syndrome, is trying to enter a day program that offers routine, independence, and community. Louis Pisani, 27, who has autism, has found a job that he has held for five years with the help of job coaching and transition programs.

Here’s what potential cuts to Medicaid could mean for them and for others in Illinois: https://www.mcdonoughvoice.com/story/news/state/2025/04/23/illinois-families-brace-for-possible-medicaid-cuts/82673254007/

Residents concerned about potential cuts to federal Medicaid funding staged a protest Monday outside the Normal office of Central Illinois Rep. Darin LaHood.

Ryan Osborn of Bloomington said he needs Medicaid to survive because he could not otherwise afford medications for epilepsy and bipolar disorder.

“Without Medicaid, I would not be able to function. I would not be able to stay at my current job, due to overwhelming health issues and an increase of seizures, I would be forced to live on Social Security disability, and I would not be able to live a fully independent live,” Osborn told the crowd.

Read the full article here: https://www.nprillinois.org/illinois/2025-04-21/protesters-in-normal-urge-congressman-darin-lahood-to-protect-medicaid-funding