Durbin Meets With Illinois Health Director As Trump Administration Threatens Public Health Programs
Republicans have called for $880 billion in cuts to Medicaid, jeopardizing health care for 3.4 million Illinoisans, including 1.5 million children
WASHINGTON – U.S. Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) today met with Dr. Sameer Vohra, Director of the Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH), to discuss protecting public health resources in Illinois as the Trump Administration continues to dismantle support for public health. In their meeting, Durbin and Dr. Vohra spoke about the potential $880 billion in cuts to Medicaid proposed by congressional Republicans in order to fund tax cuts for billionaires, which could endanger health care coverage for the 3.4 million Illinoisans, including 1.5 million children, and threaten the closure of rural hospitals in Illinois.
Durbin and Dr. Vohra also spoke about maintaining the public health workforce in Illinois as the Trump Administration freezes federal funding. IDPH relies on tens of millions of dollars in funding from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) for chronic and infectious disease prevention, violence and overdose prevention, and improving maternal and infant health outcomes. Without this critical federal funding, Illinois will be more susceptible to threats from disease outbreaks.
“As the Trump Administration shuts off federal funding, critical programs in Illinois to prevent disease and improve health could be gutted,” said Durbin. “Today, I met with Dr. Vohra, Director of IDPH, to discuss how we can protect Illinoisans’ health as the Trump Administration and congressional Republicans push for deep cuts to Medicaid and public health programs.”
Photos of the meeting are available here.
Congressional Republicans have proposed deep cuts to Medicaid to fund their budget reconciliation bill, with the House Republican budget resolution calling for $880 billion in cuts to Medicaid. Cuts of this magnitude would fundamentally alter the Medicaid program, likely reducing coverage or slashing benefits for millions of working families across the United States. In Illinois, Medicaid covers nearly half of all births, two-thirds of nursing home residents, the majority of patients with behavioral health needs, and is a lifeline for children’s and rural hospitals. Further, if the federal match for the Affordable Care Act’sMedicaid expansion is eliminated as called for in some Republican proposals, almost 800,000 Illinoisans would lose health care coverage.
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