Illinois General Assembly - Full Text of HR0171

HR0171 LRB104 12649 ECR 23378 r

HOUSE RESOLUTION

WHEREAS, In Illinois, the 3.6 million people covered by Medicaid represent more than 25% of the State's 12.5 million population; and

WHEREAS, Two out of five births in the State are covered by Medicaid as are two out of every three nursing home residents; and

WHEREAS, Overall, Illinois spent $31 billion on Medicaid benefits last year with the federal government covering 65% of the cost; and

WHEREAS, Medicaid reform is expected to be included in one or two budget reconciliation bills in the U.S. House of Representatives that require only simple majorities to pass and avoid the risk of a U.S. Senate filibuster; and

WHEREAS, Big cuts to the federal-state health care insurance program would bring financial strain to Illinois' budget and the State's Medicaid recipients; and

WHEREAS, One in four Illinoisans of the State's population rely on Medicaid health insurance to cover medical needs and could see cuts to their health care coverage if Medicaid reform is passed; and

WHEREAS, A proposal of the Medicaid reforms includes cutting Medicaid federal contributions to the Affordable Care Act's (ACA) 2014 Medicaid expansion that gave healthcare to more than 800,000 Illinois recipients; and

WHEREAS, Currently, the federal government pays for 90% of this group's coverage; and

WHEREAS, If federal funding for this particular Medicaid group goes below 90%, a trigger law, adopted by the Illinois General Assembly in 2013, would automatically end coverage for those 862,774 ACA Medicaid recipients and put an end to expanding to include other unenrolled American citizens, or the State would have to make cuts to other aspects of Medicaid or unrelated programs to make up for the lost federal dollars in order to pay for this group's coverage; and

WHEREAS, If the 2013 trigger law is enacted, there would be devastating consequences for the State of Illinois and its residents; and

WHEREAS, Illinois should consider the impact of not repealing the trigger law and should look for every possible way to protect those in need of Medicaid; therefore, be it

RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE ONE HUNDRED FOURTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we urge the Illinois General Assembly to reconsider the repeal of the 2013 Medicaid funding trigger law and to protect those who may be impacted by federal Affordable Care Act (ACA) Medicaid funding cuts; and be it further

RESOLVED, That we urge the Illinois General Assembly to take decisive budget actions in the healthcare arena and to aggressively advocate for Medicaid protection and expansion to ensure no vulnerable resident is left behind and no hospital, clinic, or emergency department is threatened out of existence.