The leaders of numerous hospitals around the Chicago area are warning of dire consequences if proposed Medicaid cuts are implemented.
The cuts, which are part of a massive spending plan championed by President Donald Trump as a “big, beautiful bill,” are being mulled over by lawmakers on Capitol Hill this week, and the plan to slash Medicaid funding will be used to put money toward other legislative priorities, including immigration enforcement and tax cuts.
At West Suburban Hospital, located on the edge of Chicago’s Austin neighborhood, six of every 10 patients are on Medicaid.
“They are welcomed here with open arms, and we take care of a lot of them,” Manoj Prasad, CEO of Resilience Health Care, said. “They certainly have no place to go to because we are so few and far between, and the volume is so high, so it will be devastating for us.”
According to NBC News, the proposed spending bills would cut federal Medicaid payments to states by $863 billion over 10 years.
Humboldt Park Health is also at-risk if Medicaid cuts are implemented.
“Right now, in this hospital, 75-to-80% of our patients are Medicaid,” Jose Sanchez, president and CEO of the hospital, said. “What’s happening in Washington is absolutely wrong and unacceptable.”
Loretto Hospital serves more than 90,000 patients per year, and 85% of those patients are on Medicaid or Medicare.
“We must stop this big, stupid bill,” Vince Williams, chairman of the board at Loretto, said. “We have to do something better for our people.”
Chicago hospitals wouldn’t be the only institutions impacted if the cuts are put into place. According to estimates by Manatt Health, rural hospitals would stand to lose up to 21 cents of every dollar they receive in Medicaid funding if the bill passes. What’s more, the National Rural Health Association reports that nearly half of all children and one-in-five adults in small towns and rural areas rely on Medicaid or CHIP for health insurance, leaving them in a potentially dangerous position if cuts are enacted.
According to the Center for Healthcare Quality and Payment Reform, of Illinois’ 79 rural hospitals, 23 have seen losses of services in recent years, with 17 at-risk of closing.
Republicans have tried to boost funding for rural hospitals in an effort to swing votes on the bill, with the Senate allocating $25 billion for a rural hospital relief fund, but Democrats say the amount is far short of what those hospitals will lose as part of the spending package.
“If you don’t have a way to pay for health care, what do you do? You die. And you die sooner,” Rep. Danny Davis said. “Who wants to die sooner?”
Davis is trying a last-minute appeal to convince Republicans of the dangers of the extensive Medicaid cuts featured in the bill. Hospital employees are also bracing for potentially devastating consequences.
Prasad has warned of staffing and service cuts at West Suburban if the Medicaid cuts are allowed to take effect.
“(If the cuts happen) we’d have a very skeleton crew, with very few services,” Prasad said. “We have to keep cutting because we have to pay the staff.”
According to NBC News, the legislation will decrease revenues by $4.5 trillion over the next 10 years while reducing spending by $1.2 trillion, increasing the national debt by $3.3 trillion. Votes on the bills are expected to take place this week.
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