Illinois officials express concern over Medicaid, SNAP cuts in new budget law
by: Jenna Barnes, Ethan Illers
Posted:
CHICAGO (WGN) – Elected officials and local leaders gathered in downtown Chicago Tuesday to discuss their concerns now that President Trump’s so-called “big, beautiful bill” is law.
WGN-TV listened in on a roundtable discussion with the American Civil Liberties Union and several Democratic members of Congress about the impacts of the budget bill.
One of the major concerns political leaders have is around immigration.
The bill Trump signed into law last week provides $350 billion for Trump’s border and national security agenda, including for the U.S. – Mexico border wall, 100,000 migrant detention facility beds, and the hiring of 10,000 more ICE officers.
The bill also increases the fees immigrants have to pay when they arrive in the country and try to seek asylum.
One example given Tuesday is that anyone who wants to appeal an immigration judge decision used to have to pay $100. That cost is now $900.
The ACLU said it’s cost prohibitive for some of the poorest of the poor seeking a new life here.
“It’s essentially putting a price tag on due process,” ACLU Deputy Legal Director Michelle Garcia said. “That means that people will not pay for something that legally they have a right to get.”
One of the top concerns the mayor has along with other Democrats is for Medicaid recipients.
“Medicaid is what helps the entire structure of our health care in this country, and when we destabilize a large portion of that health care system, we’re destabilizing it for everyone,” ACLU Director of the Youth and Family Project Nora Collins-Mandeville said.
The Congressional Budget Office projects the $1 trillion reduction in Medicaid funding will push 12 million people off their health insurance over the next 10 years in cuts Republicans claim address waste, fraud and abuse.
The law includes new work requirements of 80 hours per month for many adults receiving Medicaid and SNAP benefits.
“Many of these people are already working or looking for work or unable to work, and yet they are being asked to basically file taxes once a month or more to prove their eligibility for this program, and in a cynical move it’s basically going to cut millions of people off he rolls and that was intended,” Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-Illinois) said.
Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker’s office estimates 330,000 people in Illinois will lose Medicaid coverage over the next 10 years, cost-sharing provisions in the law mean Medicaid recipients will pay more for health care. Premiums will also go up for families enrolled in Affordable Care Act plans.
Pritzker’s office also anticipates the possible closure of up to nine rural hospital and over 90 nursing homes.
“Some of our nursing facilities have a 90% Medicaid enrollment. Some of the other nursing facilities in the state have a 3% enrollment. The one that are going to fail because they’re simply not going to be able to operate anymore are the ones in Black and Brown communities,” ALCU Director of the Institutional Reform Project Heidi Dalenberg said.
Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson also spoke about the law, saying his team is still analyzing the impacts it will have on Chicagoans. Nearly one million Chicagoans rely on Medicaid, according to the mayor.
“Cutting food, transportation and health care for the poor and working Americans is how they are paying for a $1 trillion tax cut for the ultra rich. This is an abomination. This is sinful. It is unholy,” Johnson said.
Rep. Darin LaHood (R-Illinois) voted for the law and wrote:
“The narrative that House Republicans are cutting access to healthcare and social safety-nets like Medicaid and SNAP for those who need them is simply political fearmongering. Republicans crafted this bill to eliminate fraud, protect rural hospitals, and strengthen these critical programs to ensure they are available for generations to come.”
A provision of the law also put a one-year ban on Medicaid payments to health care nonprofits that receive at least $800,000 in federal funding and provide abortions as part of their health care services.
On Monday, a federal judge issued a temporary block on that provision from taking effect.