Loss of Medicaid would be 'devastating,' Illinois governor warns

Illinois Governor JB Pritzker warned Friday that potential Medicaid cuts proposed by President Donald Trump and Congressional Republicans would have devastating consequences for Illinois and other states.

Speaking at a University of Illinois health center in Chicago, Pritzker stressed that states cannot afford to replace the billions in lost funding if federal cuts are enacted.

“If Medicaid is cut, no state in the country has the money to backfill the billions of dollars in funding. It will be gone, and the consequences will be devastating,” Pritzker said. “There is not enough that the state can do to make up for the damage.”

Trump's cost-cutting plan

The Trump administration has prioritized reducing federal spending, and Medicaid is one of the programs under review. The cost-cutting effort, led by Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency, has raised concerns about the future of Medicaid, which provides doctor visits, hospital care, and nursing home services for low-income Americans.

On Tuesday, the Republican-led U.S. House passed a budget that includes $2 trillion in cuts to safety-net programs, including Medicaid. If approved by the Senate, these cuts could result in millions of Americans losing healthcare coverage and hospitals struggling to stay open.

The healthcare research organization KFF has estimated the Trump plan could decrease federal Medicaid spending by $532 billion to almost $1 trillion over a 10-year period, depending on how states respond. An estimated 15 million people would lose coverage.

Impact on Illinois

In Illinois, Medicaid covers about 3.4 million people, including 1.4 million children. The program pays for 44% of births and more than two-thirds of nursing home care in the state.

For every $1 Illinois spends on Medicaid-eligible services, the federal government reimburses about 50 cents. Losing those funds would leave a massive gap in the state budget.

Even though Illinois is expecting a budget surplus in the upcoming fiscal year, Pritzker emphasized that it cannot replace the billions that would be lost if Medicaid funding is slashed. The potential elimination of Affordable Care Act (ACA) Medicaid expansion alone could cost the state $7.5 billion per year and result in tens of thousands of job losses.

“There is not $7.5 billion in the state of Illinois that we have to make up for that program,” Pritzker said.

All states face same dilemma

Illinois is not alone. Millions of Americans in states throughout the nation face the loss of financial assistance for healthcare, nursing home stays and other life-saving measures. 

In California, the nation's most populous state, Medicaid covers half of all children and 40% of all births, as well as providing long-term care for seniors and disabled people.

California's budget includes $161 billion for Medi-Cal, as Medicaid is called there, with more than half coming from federal funds. New York spends about $101 billion on Medicaid, with more than half coming from federal funds. 

It's not just big states that would be hard hit by Medicaid cutbacks. "Medicaid is the backbone of our state’s health care system, covering 700,000 Iowans, including nearly 1 in 3 children, more than 1 in 3 people with disabilities and half of nursing home residents," and Iowa group said in a letter to the state's Congressional delegation.

In Alabama, the group Alabama Arise said Medicaid covers 1 in 5 Alabamians and, at $6.8 billion, is the largesgt source of federal funds in the state's budget.