Health care bill would hit Illinoisans hard

A June 29 article described Congress' most recent attempt to repeal the Affordable Care Act and cut Medicaid as being a last-ditch effort by the majority party to make good on a campaign promise.

But there's far more at stake with the Senate's Better Care Reconciliation Act (BCRA) than just political currency.

According to the Congressional Budget Office score, the BCRA will cause more than 650,000 Illinoisans to lose their health care coverage over 10 years. On top of this dramatic spike in the number of uninsured, Illinois could lose roughly $40 billion in federal funding for Medicaid - health insurance for children, low-income people, and the disabled - by 2026. Illinois already faces an unprecedented $15 billion deficit.

Even with the recent passage of a budget, BCRA would exacerbate Illinois' bleak fiscal condition.

For those living with mental health and substance use conditions, many of whom are covered through Medicaid, losing coverage means losing treatment for serious, lifelong illnesses. Without treatment, far too often people experience worsening illness, hospitalizations, jail for survival crimes, and tragedy.

Between 2013 and 2016, more than 5,500 Illinoisans lost their lives to opioid overdoses. As communities begin to address the lethal opioid epidemic, now is not the time to strip away access to treatment for those battling addiction.

Simply put - repealing the Affordable Care Act and slashing Medicaid jeopardizes access to treatment. We need Gov. Rauner and our communities' members of Congress who supported the House repeal bill - Reps. Roskam, Hultgren, and Kinzinger - to stand up for Illinois and halt these efforts.

Mark Ishaug, CEO , Thresholds

La Grange