The Trump Administration is trying once again to take away our health care — this time with another attempt to block grant the Medicaid program.
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) issued guidance encouraging states to apply for waivers to block grant Medicaid funding at the state level. This guidance aims to dramatically restructure Medicaid, which provides health insurance coverage to nearly 3 million Illinoisans and 3 in 5 people living with HIV and AIDS in Illinois.
“If implemented, the Trump Administration’s Medicaid Block Grants Plan will eviscerate access to health care coverage for a majority of people living with HIV in in Illinois and across the country. This plan runs completely counter to this same administration’s Ending the HIV Epidemic Plan announced just last year.” Nadeen Israel, Vice President of Policy & Advocacy at the AIDS Foundation of Chicago.
Block grants will exacerbate Illinois’ mental health crisis and opioid epidemic because they will translate to devastating cuts to federal dollars for addressing these crises. Illinois cannot make up for the lost federal Medicaid investment if a Medicaid block grant is put in place.
The AIDS Foundation of Chicago calls on our state elected leaders, including Gov. JB Pritzker, to say NO to the Trump administration’s Medicaid Block Grants plan.
The AIDS Foundation of Chicago mobilizes communities to create equity and justice for people living with and vulnerable to HIV and related chronic diseases.
