Durbin Statement On Senate Republicans Advancing Their Plan To Cut Medicaid & Social Security In Order To Pay For Tax Cuts For Billionaires
WASHINGTON – U.S. Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) released the following statement regarding Senate Republicans advancing their budget resolution, which proposes cuts to Medicaid, the Social Security Administration (SSA), veterans’ benefits, and more to pay for tax cuts for billionaires:
“Last night, Senate Democrats were on the Senate floor fighting for working families one amendment at a time while Republicans struck down each one. Their message was clear: Let’s give billionaires a tax break and have everyday Americans pay for it by slashing Medicaid, Social Security, veterans’ benefits, and more.
“If Republicans continue to push forward with their cruel and unpopular budget resolution, working families will lose and billionaires will win. It is simple and devastating math.”
House Republicans have proposed $880 billion in cuts to the Medicaid program in order to pay for President Trump’s tax cuts for billionaires, and Senate Republicans have similarly put this program in the crosshairs. Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program provide health coverage to approximately 80 million people nationwide—including nearly 40 million kids, or nearly half of all children in America, as well as 60 percent of seniors in nursing homes. In addition, Medicaid is the largest funder of addiction and mental health treatment.
In Illinois, 3.4 million people are enrolled in Medicaid, including 1.5 million children. 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. Under Republican plans to slash Medicaid, 775,000 adults in Illinois who gained health insurance coverage under the Affordable Care Act could lose coverage almost overnight.
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