This budget is a war on poverty.
By attacking social services, Donald Trump and U.S. Representatives Mike Bost (IL-12), Mary Miller (IL-15), and Darin LaHood (IL-16) turned their backs on our communities across Illinois.
Republicans like to position themselves as champions of working families.
The Big, Ugly Budget proves that they’re lying.
Medicaid
The Big Ugly Budget strips health care from millions of people in Illinois, including children, seniors, and people with disabilities, because Trump and Republicans chose to cut Medicaid instead of protecting the care families rely on.
The Numbers:
- Approximately 3.4 million people in Illinois rely on Medicaid for healthcare coverage.
- 44% are children, 9% are seniors, 7% are adults with disabilities
- Over 330,000 Illinoisans are at risk of losing their healthcare coverage.
- The Big Ugly Budget would force Illinois to lose about $52 billion in Medicaid funds over 10 years and put the coverage and benefits for all 3.4 million Illinoisans on Medicaid at risk.
- Illinois families with ACA plans will pay an average of $1,032 more per year in premiums. Rural Illinoisans will be even harder hit, with an estimated increase of $1,700.
- District-specific impacts:
- IL-12 (Bost):
- 218,129 people rely on Medicaid including 87,889 children under the age of 19 and 24,000 seniors over 65.
- His refusal to extend the enhanced Affordable Care Act tax credits will skyrocket health insurance costs for the 23,000 people who have coverage under the ACA in his district, blowing a $910 annual hole in their personal budgets — a 49% increase in premiums.
- A 60-year-old couple with a household income of $85,000 in Bost’s district would see their health insurance costs increase by $15,431 per year — a 214% increase in premiums.
- IL-15 (Miller):
- 190,635 people rely on Medicaid including 83,393 children under the age of 19 and 19,000 seniors over 65.
- Her refusal to extend the enhanced ACA tax credits will skyrocket health insurance costs for the 23,000 people who have coverage under the ACA in her district, blowing a $920 annual hole in their personal budgets — a 41% increase in premiums.
- A 60-year-old couple with a household income of $85,000 in Miller’s district would see their health insurance costs increase by $24,786 per year — a 343% increase in premiums.
- IL–16 (LaHood):
- 150,344 people rely on Medicaid including 65,711 children under the age of 19 and 17,000 seniors over 65.
- His refusal to extend the enhanced ACA tax credits will skyrocket health insurance costs for the 21,000 people who have coverage under the ACA in his district, blowing a $1,010 annual hole in their personal budgets — a 44% increase in premiums.
- A 60-year-old couple with a household income of $85,000 in LaHood’s district would see their health insurance costs increase by $30,541 per year — a 423% increase in premiums.
- IL-12 (Bost):
- What this means: Frankly, it means people will get sick and worry about whether or not they can see a doctor. And Republicans do not care.
Rural Hospitals
This budget drains funding from hospitals in rural communities, putting lives at risk by making it harder for people to access emergency care close to home.
The Numbers:
- Medicaid is the financial backbone of rural hospitals. Rural hospitals rely heavily on Medicaid funding because they serve a higher share of low-income patients. Trump’s largest cut to Medicaid in the program’s history is a direct attack on the rural families that depend on these hospitals for care.
- Nine rural hospitals in Illinois are at risk of closure, according to the University of North Carolina’s Cecil G. Sheps Center for Health Services Research–mainly in Bost, Miller and LaHood’s districts:
- Katherine Shaw Bethea Hospital (Dixon, IL-16 / LaHood)
- OSF Sacred Heart Medical Center (Danville, IL-02 / Kelly)
- Richland Memorial Hospital (Olney, IL-12 / Bost)
- Harrisburg Medical Center (Harrisburg, IL-12 / Bost)
- Hoopeston Community Memorial Hospital (Hoopeston, IL-02 / Kelly)
- Franklin Hospital (Benton, IL-12 / Bost)
- Massac Memorial Hospital (Metropolis, IL-12 / Bost)
- Hardin County General Hospital (Rosiclare, IL-12 / Bost)
- Crawford Memorial Hospital (Robinson, IL-12 / Bost)
Nursing Homes
Republicans voted to slash the Medicaid funding that keeps nursing homes open, pushing aging adults out of the care they need and leaving families without options.
The Numbers:
- About 70% of all the days a person spends in a nursing facility in Illinois are covered by Medicaid.
- Over 90 nursing homes in Illinois could face closure.
SNAP & Food Assistance
The Big Ugly Budget takes food off the table for hundreds of thousands of Illinois families, forcing veterans, kids, and low-wage workers to go hungry while doing nothing to address the root causes of poverty.
- Over 1.8m Illinoisans – mainly working families, kids, seniors, people with disabilities – rely on SNAP to put food on the table.
- SNAP has been a permanent, 100% federally-funded food benefit for more than 60 years. The Big Ugly Budget shifts part of the funding responsibility onto states. Illinois’ required contribution to SNAP will go from $0 (currently) to $705 million annually.
- 360,000 Illinoisans are at risk of losing food assistance, forcing working families and children to go hungry
- The Big Ugly Budget also requires people under 64 years old receiving SNAP benefits to prove they’re working 20 hours a week – raising the working age from 54. This doesn’t increase the likelihood of people finding jobs, it increases the likelihood that they’ll go hungry.
- It also removes work requirement exemptions for 23,000 unhoused, veterans, and youth aged out of foster care in Illinois
- SNAP supports more than 18,000 jobs in Illinois and nearly $1 billion in Illinois wages.
- Cuts to the SNAP program places a burden on food banks and pantries especially in rural Illinois.
- District-specific impacts:
- IL-12 (Bost): 155,000 people in Bost’s district rely on SNAP.
- IL-15 (Miller): 113,000 people in Miller’s district rely on SNAP.
- IL-16 (LaHood): 72,000 people in LaHood’s district rely on SNAP.
Reproductive Healthcare
The Big Ugly Budget also prohibits federal funding to nonprofit orgs like Planned Parenthood – a direct attack on abortion care and puts health centers at risk of closing.
The Numbers:
- Following the overturning of Roe v. Wade, Illinois has become a safe haven for reproductive rights, serving more out-of-state patients than any other state. Since the Dobbs ruling, Illinois centers have been overwhelmed and the Big Ugly Budget puts even more pressure on these centers.
- Nearly 30,000, or more than 40%, of Planned Parenthood of Illinois patients use Medicaid to access health care services at Planned Parenthood’s health centers.
- Earlier this year, Planned Parenthood of Illinois had to close four centers in Ottawa, Decatur, Bloomington, and Englewood because of uncertainty caused by the Trump administration.
Education
This budget makes college less affordable and student debt harder to manage, cutting off opportunities for students who are just trying to build a better life.
- The Big Ugly Budget reduces annual limits for graduate and parent loans and slashes options for student loan repayment.
- Grad PLUS loans, which do not require a co-signer and often help students cover the full cost of attendance, will be eliminated beginning July 1, 2026. Nearly 23,000 Illinois graduate students currently utilize Grad PLUS loans.
- Reduces student loan repayment plan options from seven to only two.
- Illinois student loan borrowers who are unemployed or suffering an economic hardship will no longer be eligible to defer student loan payments. Without the ability to defer payments during tough times, more borrowers may fall behind on their loans.
- It also places new restrictive limits on Pell Grants which are federal student aid awards that help low-income students pay for college.
- IL-12 (Bost): 11,486 students Bost’s district receive Pell Grants
- IL-15 (Miller): 10,660 students in Miller’s district receive Pell Grants
- IL-16 (LaHood): 4,482 students in LaHood’s district receive Pell Grants
