While I was attending Georgetown Law School, my wife and I were blessed with a little baby girl, who was born with a serious heart defect. We had no health insurance.
I rushed to Children’s National Hospital in Washington, D.C., with my wife and daughter. We waited in the hospital’s “charity ward,” which provided medical services to those who could not afford to pay or were uninsured. We waited for the opportunity to see a doctor — any doctor — who might be able to help my little girl.
As an uninsured, new father, I never felt more helpless than I did at that moment. It was a terrible feeling, one that I have never forgotten.
I can’t help but think about that feeling as the Trump administration and congressional Republicans target Americans’ health care coverage in an effort to fund tax breaks for the wealthy.
In their budget resolution, House Republicans have proposed $880 billion in cuts to Medicaid, a program that more than 70 million Americans rely on. Medicaid covers 30 million children — that’s nearly half of all children in this country. It supports 60% of seniors in nursing homes. It’s the largest funder of addiction and mental health treatment. In Illinois, 3.4 million people are enrolled in Medicaid, including 1.5 million children.
Someone you know relies on Medicaid.
Under Republicans’ plans to slash Medicaid, 775,000 adults who gained health insurance under the Affordable Care Act could lose coverage almost overnight — that is in Illinois alone.
These statistics aren’t just numbers. They are families, holding their breath and praying they can afford the medical care to treat a heart condition, cancer, diabetes or other ailment.
And while the richest man on Earth, Elon Musk, dances around on stage with a chainsaw, cheering for cuts to basic health care programs, rural hospital leaders are calling my office worried they will have to close their doors if Republicans carry out their plans to slash Medicaid.
Hospitals are anchors for local economies across the country, often serving as the largest employer in rural communities. And they are a critical access point for health care, providing treatment for Americans who would otherwise have to drive hours to see a doctor, to deliver a baby or to get emergency care.
For many rural hospitals, Medicaid covers a large percentage of their patients and accounts for a significant portion of the hospital’s budget. Without Medicaid, these hospitals will be forced to shut down, laying off their employees and further isolating Americans from health care.
But don’t take just my word for it. My Republican colleagues in the Senate have admitted that cutting Medicaid would harm their constituents.
Republican Sen. Tommy Tuberville, of Alabama, acknowledged in a recent interview that cutting Medicaid would “decimate” his home state, where three out of five kids are on Medicaid.
Republican Sen. Josh Hawley, of Missouri, has said that he wouldn’t vote for measures that would result in “reductions in benefits to folks who depend on it,” acknowledging that 20% of people in his state depend on Medicaid.
Slashing life-saving health care will hurt Americans in blue and red states. I hope my Republican colleagues will listen to their constituents’ stories, listen to their hospitals and understand just how critical Medicaid funding is.
No matter what President Donald Trump and Musk say, this is not about efficiency. It is about helping the rich become richer at the expense of Americans’, especially children’s, health.
As congressional Republicans consider legislating away the health and well-being of their constituents, I will fight to protect Medicaid and the Americans who depend on it.
Because I remember what it’s like to be uninsured.
And I do not wish that on anybody.
Dick Durbin is a U.S. senator from Illinois.
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