{"id":1815,"date":"2025-07-02T18:32:47","date_gmt":"2025-07-02T18:32:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.protectourcareil.org\/?p=1815"},"modified":"2025-07-10T18:33:22","modified_gmt":"2025-07-10T18:33:22","slug":"protect-our-care-il-drives-mobile-billboard-through-illinois-16th-district-urging-constituents-to-call-representative-oppose-medicaid-cuts","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.protectourcareil.org\/index.php\/2025\/07\/02\/protect-our-care-il-drives-mobile-billboard-through-illinois-16th-district-urging-constituents-to-call-representative-oppose-medicaid-cuts\/","title":{"rendered":"Protect Our Care IL Drives Mobile Billboard through Illinois\u2019 16th District Urging Constituents to Call Representative, Oppose Medicaid Cuts"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>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\u2019 16th Congressional District will lose health care coverage under the bill\u2019s current Medicaid cuts.<\/p>\n<p>Citizen Action\/Illinois Executive Director Anusha Thotakura called on LaHood to vote against the bill.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;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\u2019s at stake and call on him to do the right thing.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>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\u2019s districts.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhen Congressman Bost voted to cut Medicaid, he didn\u2019t just target a government program \u2014 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,\u201d said retired emergency room physician Dr. Kathy Wides, who lives in Bost\u2019s district.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAs an ICU nurse, I know that when people skip preventive care, they are more likely to end up in my care \u2014 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&#8217;t just a health care issue; it&#8217;s a financial one. Health conditions don\u2019t discriminate between rural or urban, Democrat or Republican. I\u2019m 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,\u201d said ICU Nurse Grace Kistner, who lives in Miller\u2019s district.<\/p>\n<p>The Senate\u2019s amendments to the bill could be considered by the House as early as Wednesday.<\/p>\n<p>A link to the billboard\u2019s recording can be found\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/file\/d\/1uwWgdBj19iIwOkcbARIzopWtp_-TplNM\/view\" data-outlook-id=\"c93c5c34-6285-4d87-b27c-5764e5b04b65\">HERE<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>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\u2019 16th Congressional District will lose health care coverage under the bill\u2019s current Medicaid cuts. Citizen Action\/Illinois Executive <a class=\"read-more\" href=\"https:\/\/www.protectourcareil.org\/index.php\/2025\/07\/02\/protect-our-care-il-drives-mobile-billboard-through-illinois-16th-district-urging-constituents-to-call-representative-oppose-medicaid-cuts\/\">Read More&#8230;<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":17,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1815","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.3 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Protect Our Care IL Drives Mobile Billboard through Illinois\u2019 16th District Urging Constituents to Call Representative, Oppose Medicaid Cuts - Protect Our Care IL<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.protectourcareil.org\/index.php\/2025\/07\/02\/protect-our-care-il-drives-mobile-billboard-through-illinois-16th-district-urging-constituents-to-call-representative-oppose-medicaid-cuts\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Protect Our Care IL Drives Mobile Billboard through Illinois\u2019 16th District Urging Constituents to Call Representative, Oppose Medicaid Cuts - Protect Our Care IL\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"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\u2019 16th Congressional District will lose health care coverage under the bill\u2019s current Medicaid cuts. 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