September 8, 2025

On July 4, 2025, Donald Trump signed the cartoonishly-named “One Big Beautiful Bill Act” (OBBA) into law. This budget bill creates a massive regressive transfer of wealth through its harmful provisions – these provisions impose massive cuts to programs that benefit lower- and middle-income individuals in order to fund tax cuts to the wealthiest families and corporations.

Some of the harmful cuts from OBBA are already beginning and will soon be affecting individuals and families who depend on programs such as SNAP (food stamps) and subsidies in the ACA Marketplace. The harmful impacts of OBBA will take place over a period of months and years.

Thanks to OBBA, the largest cut in the history of SNAP – the food stamp program that millions of individuals and families depend on to meet their nutritional needs – began on Monday, September 1, 2025. It is estimated that 2.4 million households will lose their SNAP benefits all together. And it is estimated that households across the U.S. who retain their SNAP benefits will lose anywhere from  $72 to $231 per month, compared to their current benefit level.

You can count on Champaign County Health Care Consumers (CCHCC) to provide you with the information you need, as these changes unfold and impact our community. 

Many of these changes are starting to take place and will also have impacts on households as we head into Open Enrollment season for Medicare and the ACA Marketplace.

CCHCC is planning three Community Meetings for September and October – one to provide information on OBBA and the cuts that are coming; and two for Open Enrollments (Medicare and Marketplace).

Please mark your calendars and save these dates! And please note that all three of these Community Meetings will be held at the Champaign Public Library at 200 W. Green Street in Champaign.

Community Meeting on OBBA – Thursday, September 11 at 6 p.m. at the Champaign Public Library. This meeting will be open to the public. The purpose of the meeting will be to provide information about the OBBA budget bill passed by the Senate and the House, and signed into law on July 4, 2025. This budget bill slashes funding to many important health, food, and housing programs. We will provide information about the cuts to vital programs, why the cuts were made, when those cuts are expected to take effect, how they will impact our community, and what our community can do to mitigate the harmful impacts of these budget cuts.

Medicare Open Enrollment Meeting – Wednesday, October 15 at 10 a.m. at the Champaign Public Library. This meeting will be open to anyone who has Medicare or who will soon be eligible to start receiving Medicare. Participants will have an opportunity to ask questions and to schedule appointments with specialists to help them through the Open Enrollment process so they can choose an appropriate Medicare Advantage or Part D plan for themselves or their loved one.

Please note that Medicare Open Enrollment takes place from October 15 through December 7 for Medicare Advantage and Part D plans for 2026.

Marketplace Open Enrollment Meeting – Wednesday, October 29 at 7 p.m. at the Champaign Public Library. This meeting will be open to anyone who is seeking health insurance through the Marketplace or Medicaid. The State of Illinois will be operating its own Marketplace starting this fall, rather than continuing the partnership with the federal government for use of their Marketplace. We will explain the Open Enrollment process, options for financial assistance, and the difference between Marketplace and Medicaid plans. 

Please note that Marketplace Open Enrollment takes place from November 1, 2025 through January 15, 2026. Individuals experiencing major life changes, like a marriage or divorce, change in employment, birth of a child, etc. might qualify for a Special Enrollment Period (SEP) and can enroll in a Marketplace plan outside of the Open Enrollment period. Medicaid enrollment is available year-round.

Unfortunately, OBBA has made cuts to the “premium tax credits” to Marketplace plans – these are the tax credits that help cut the costs of the monthly premiums to make the plans more affordable. We will discuss these changes at this meeting, and explain who will be affected.

Please note that Medicaid enrollment is open year-round. Unlike Medicare and the ACA’s Marketplace, there is no open enrollment period for Medicaid coverage. Medicaid is open year-round, so people can apply for Medicaid at any time in the year. CCHCC helps community members with these applications on a year-round basis. And if you are unsure whether you qualify for Medicaid, or a Marketplace plan with a subsidy, CCHCC can help you sort it out!

Please help spread the word to publicize these events!

CCHCC will make information from these meetings available to our community by posting to our website, sharing over email, and sharing over Facebook in the coming weeks and months.

CCHCC needs your financial support, and your active and ongoing involvement in our efforts to help our community members get informed, and get covered. Please help spread the word about our upcoming meetings and our services, and/or make a contribution to help support CCHCC’s ongoing advocacy and organizing efforts, as well as our enrollment work.

DONATE NOW!

We thank you for your commitment, and for your ongoing support and involvement!

Sincerely,
Claudia Lennhoff
Executive Director
Champaign County Health Care Consumers

June 30, 2025

This is URGENT.

Late Saturday night, Senate Republicans narrowly passed a motion to proceed, allowing debate to begin on their version of the devastating reconciliation budget bill. While they cleared this first procedural hurdle, a number of Republican senators continue to voice concerns about the health sections of the bill that make deep cuts to Medicaid and other social programs.

A Vote in the Senate is Expected Soon, and Health Care and Food Assistance are on the Line
In less than 24 hours, the Senate is expected to vote on the Republican budget reconciliation bill—and it’s even more extreme than the House bill. (To take action, please see the “Take Action NOW” section of this message further below.)

Here’s what’s at stake: 
The Senate proposal would slash funding for Medicare, Medicaid, the Affordable Care Act (ACA), and SNAP (food assistance)—all to pay for tax cuts that disproportionately benefit high-income earners. 

Instead of moderating the House bill, the Senate doubled down—calling for deeper cuts and even more damage to programs for older adults, people with disabilities, caregivers, children, and working families. 
If passed, this legislation would: 

• Strip health coverage from at least 17 million Americans. 
• Cut millions of people off from critical food assistance.  
• Cause more preventable deaths, more rural hospital closures, and more dangerous nursing homes. 
• Raise health care costs for everyone by undermining system-wide affordability and stability. 

Programs that help people with Medicare are directly under attack: 

• Nearly 1.4 million low-income people with Medicare could lose their Medicare Savings Program (MSP), making it harder to afford premiums and care. They would see lower Social Security checks as a result—costing them thousands of dollars each year. 
• Millions would lose automatic help paying for prescriptions through the Part D Low Income Subsidy (Extra Help), assistance valued at $6,200 in 2025. 
• For those who lose their MSP, Part B premiums and other out-of-pocket costs could consume up to one-third of their income, forcing impossible choices between health care, food, and housing. 

The Senate could vote as soon as today, with the House quickly following. Republican lawmakers are aiming for final passage by July 4. We need your voice NOW to stop this.

Because Senate leadership hopes to call a final vote on their bill late tonight or early tomorrow morning, it is imperative that you contact Senators NOW and encourage them to vote NO. Please see below for how to take action to call Senators.

In order to stop this bill, we only need 4 additional NO votes in the Senate. All Democrats in the Senate are opposed to this bill, so we need at least 4 Republican Senators to vote NO. Your voice can make a difference. Please call TODAY to stop this devastating bill from moving forward.

Take Action NOW:

The action to take is to make phone calls to Senators NOW. For those of us who live in Illinois, our U.S. Senators – Durbin and Duckworth – are solid NOs. However, they will still want to hear from their constituents.

If you are willing to make some extra calls to 5 additional Republican Senators, that could be very helpful, as well! The 5 additional Senators to target are the following:

• Iowa Senator Joni Ernst (of the famous “we are all going to die” statement when asked about Medicaid cuts)
• Maine Senator Susan Collins
• Missouri Senator Josh Hawley (he has been opposing Medicaid cuts)
• West Virginia Senator Shelley Moore Capito
• North Carolina Senator Thom Tillis (he has stood up against Medicaid cuts and has now announced he will not seek re-election)

The message is simple: “I want to urge Senator [Name of Senator} to vote NO on the budget bill because of its drastic cuts to Medicaid and other programs that regular people depend on. I want the Senator to vote no because rich people should not get massive tax cuts financed by taking away health care programs that help the people.”

Call Senators at the Capitol Switchboard at (202) 224-3121or(866) 426-2631.
By the way, if you are concerned about calling a Senator from another state, you should know that you have every right to make that call. After all, they are voting on a bill that will have national impact. If you have a relative who lives in that state, you can also always say that you are calling on behalf of your relative.

If you would like to dig deeper into the issue, and see summaries of the House bill and compare it to the Senate bill, you can look here.

Your advocacy can make a difference. Please contact your senators today—and encourage your family and friends to do the same. 

Thank you for your activism and advocacy!

Sincerely,
Champaign County Health Care Consumers