(CAPITOL CITY NOW) – Medicaid affects more people than many realize, and proposed cuts could have serious consequences for some Illinois residents.

During a visit to Taylorville Memorial Hospital on Thursday, U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL) warned that President Donald Trump’s tax plan, which benefits the wealthy, threatens coverage for 800,000 Illinoisans on Medicaid.

“What it boils down to is half the kids born in Illinois are paid for by Medicaid,” Durbin said. “Two-thirds of the people who are in nursing homes around our state are receiving assistance from Medicaid to stay there.” He added that many Illinoisans receiving mental health counseling likely rely on Medicaid to cover the cost.

Cuts to Medicaid could also endanger small, rural hospitals, Durbin said. Taylorville Memorial Hospital President and CEO Kim Bourne said the facility served more than 12,000 emergency department patients, performed over 1,600 surgeries, and handled about 37,000 outpatient visits in the last fiscal year. “A proportion of those certainly are Medicaid patients,” she said.

At the Taylorville stop, Durbin shared a letter from a Springfield mother named Amber. In it, she wrote that her son has cerebral palsy, epilepsy and other conditions. She said Medicaid is vital to his survival, as he takes five medications and sees six specialists. Cutting Medicaid, she warned, would end his life.

 

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