The U.S. Senate continues to negotiate Pres. Trump’s “Big Beautiful Bill”budget bill. One of the items being debated is possible cuts to Medicaid, which makes available health coverage for poor residents including senior citizens.
Ron Nunziato is the senior director of policy for the Healthcare Council of Illinois. It’s a lobbying group whose members represent about 70 percent of the Medicaid occupied beds in the state.
He said the uncertainty of how much federal funding the state will receive for Medicaid puts nursing home operators in a bind.
"We don't know what DC will do, and we don't know how that will impact the state," Nunziato said. “If they (Congress makes) cuts to Medicaid, the state could look at all Medicaid providers and make a cut to them,” he said. “They could take more from one pot than they do another. And so, it's deeply troubling to us in this industry.”
Support for the bills falls on partisan lines, with the three Republicans representing the state supporting Trump’s budget bill. Among them are U.S. Representatives Darin LaHood, of Peoria, Mike Bost, of Murphysboro, and Mary Miller, of Oakland.
Nunziato has been reaching out to members of Congress, calling on them to oppose the proposal.
“Don't pass this bill,” he said he tells them. “We're providing tax cuts for the very rich and wealthy at the cost of vulnerable seniors or vulnerable citizens.”
Nunziato said if cuts to Medicaid go through, it may result in a reduction in the number of low-income seniors they can serve. In the worst-case scenario, he said, some nursing homes will close.
