PEORIA, Ill. – Governor J.B. Pritzker’s crusade against President Donald Trump and his policies brought him to Peoria on Friday afternoon.
Pritzker spoke at a roundtable at EPIC as part of his “Standing Up for Illinois” tour. The roundtable featured Pritzker, and advocates talking about how Medicaid cuts would affect them.
One spoke about how Medicaid paid for doctor’s visits, while another spoke of Medicaid helping with costs to take care of her developmentally disabled daughter.
“Don’t think of this program as being ‘oh this is just a program for poor people.’ It is, and it is for our very vulnerable. But it’s for a whole lot of people, and I guarantee we know somebody, or lots of people, who are on Medicaid,” Pritzker said.
Pritzker says one in four people in the state are covered by Medicaid, ranging from children to working parents to seniors to people with disabilities. He says Medicaid cuts could also make it difficult for rural hospitals to stay open and serve small towns.
The governor estimated that $8 billion of Medicaid funding is at risk in the state, and that 1 million people could be affected.
Pritzker also slammed Trump, Elon Musk, and Congressional Republicans, claiming they’re cutting healthcare to give “massive tax cuts to the wealthy.”
“I will stay this for myself, I believe that blood will be on their hands,” Pritzker said. “People will lose their lives as a result of what they’re trying to do.”
EPIC CEO Kim Cornwell introduced the governor and advocates, using the moment to discuss how potential Medicaid cuts would be “catastrophic” to her organization. Cornwell says EPIC’s budget is $25.1 million, with 82% of the funding coming from Medicaid.
