Category Archives: Updates

URGENT: Call U.S. Senators NOW to vote NO on healthcare and food cuts

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.

READ ON TO TAKE ACTION!

Guest Commentary about House Budget and Medicaid Cuts

June 3, 2025

Dear friend,

In today’s The News-Gazette, you can see the Guest Commentary that I wrote about the House Republican’s Budget bill and the cuts to Medicaid and other health and food programs.

You can read my commentary below, or you can find it on The News-Gazette’s website here.

Don’t believe political spin about not-so-beautiful bill

House Republicans narrowly passed their budget bill – the cartoonishly named “One Big Beautiful Bill” – that would slash funding for Medicaid, Medicare, and the Affordable Care Act (ACA). These cuts would force around 15 million Americans off their health coverage, and raise healthcare costs for millions more, all in order to permanently fund tax breaks for billionaires and big corporations.

This budget bill was rushed through overnight, and while House Republicans admit this is one of the most consequential pieces of legislation in a generation, they voted for it without getting a full analysis of the proposal or holding a single hearing on the impacts of the biggest cut to Medicaid ever. Even without a full accounting yet, we know enough to know that the consequences will be devastating – from millions more uninsured, to increased premiums and co-pays, and more bureaucratic barriers to get and stay on coverage, to reduced benefits and scaled back services resulting from cuts to the hospitals, clinics and other providers on which we all rely.

The Senate has millions of reasons to reject this approach to a budget bill. Senator Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) wrote in a New York Times op-ed that slashing health care for the working poor “is both morally wrong and politically suicidal.”  He stated “Republicans need to open their eyes: Our voters support social insurance programs,” Hawley wrote. “More than that, our voters depend on those programs.” 

No one campaigned on the biggest reduction of health coverage in history, nor on massive Medicaid cuts, nor on cuts to the ACA or Medicare, nor on higher health premiums and co-payments, nor on cuts to the SNAP food assistance program — but that’s what House Republicans voted for in this budget.

This isn’t a political game — this is literally life and death for low-income working families, people with disabilities, pregnant women and their babies, children, veterans, and people who rely on rural hospitals across the country — all of whom will pay the price of this disastrous bill for generations, while the billionaires reap the benefits.

READ ON!

We are fighting for our lives!

May 22, 2025

The situation is dire.
Early this morning, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the so-called “One Big Beautiful Bill” Act – the budget bill that includes a sweeping proposal that slashes billions of dollars from the Medicaid program and imposes dangerous new work requirements for Medicaid. If this is enacted, the bill will strip health insurance – and health care – away from millions of low-income people across the country.

Of course, the House barely passed this bill with enough votes, but all the YES votes were by Republicans. Let’s be very clear: this is one-sided, one party bill. There is no bipartisanship here.

CCHCC strongly condemns this legislation, which prioritizes tax breaks for billionaires and the largest corporations over the health and dignity of low-income communities. The deep cuts to Medicaid included in this bill will result in fewer people being covered, fewer healthcare services available and accessible, and a weaker healthcare system for everyone.

There is nothing beautiful about this bill. There is nothing beautiful about cruelty. There is nothing beautiful about the massive wealth transfer that is the primary purpose of this bill – but it’s a wealth transfer from the poorest to the wealthiest in our nation. There is absolutely no reason to make the tax cuts to the wealthiest Americans permanent. How much more do they need? This is just the most malevolent form of greed and avarice at the expense of people’s health, and possibly their lives.

One of the most harmful provisions in this bill is a national mandate for Medicaid work requirements. Bureaucratic barriers like work requirements do NOT promote employment. In fact, 93% of all people on Medicaid who can work, are working! These requirements punish people who are already working in low-wage jobs, or who have disabilities, chronic conditions, or caregiving responsibilities. Caps to state Medicaid taxes and other changes to the program will result in slashing billions of more dollars to states and these will force states to make difficult decisions on who gets care and what care and services are available. Work requirements for Medicaid will costs all the states millions of dollars as they will have to set up the infrastructure to manage these requirements, and they will have to hire more people to do the work of monitoring Medicaid beneficiaries. What an absolutely ridiculous use of money!

There are other harmful provisions that undermine protections helping individuals obtain and retain Medicaid and Marketplace coverage. These provisions prevent states from spending their own funds to provide health insurance to immigrants, for example. Insuring as much of the population as possible improves a community’s and a state’s health overall, and decreases public health crises because health issues – including from infectious diseases – can be prevented, detected early, and treated early, limiting the spread of communicable diseases. So much for states’ rights.

READ ON!

Hands Off! Rally – THIS Saturday, April 5 at noon – West Side Park

April 03, 2025

Champaign County Health Care Consumers is inviting you to attend a rally this Saturday at West Side Park at noon.
 
This event is being organized as part of a national day of rallies around the country to fight back against the Trump Administration’s plans and ongoing efforts to dismantle vital national programs. People around the country are fighting against the Administration’s efforts to take away healthcare programs, data that drives policies, jobs, and services. This is a crisis, and the time to act is now.
 
We hope you will join us for this important event.
 
Here are the details:
 
WHAT: Hands Off! Rally – Champaign County, IL Fights Back
 
WHEN: Saturday, April 5, 2025
 
TIME: 12 noon – 2 p.m. Central Time
 
WHERE:  West Side Park – 400 W. University Ave., Champaign, IL 61820
 
RSVP (Please): https://www.mobilize.us/handsoff/event/768779/

READ MORE!

CCHCC Guest Commentary on Tax Referendum in The News-Gazette

March 27, 2025

CCHCC is urging Champaign residents to vote YES for the City of Champaign Township Tax Referendum. The following Guest Commentary by CCHCC’s Executive Director, Claudia Lennhoff, ran in The News-Gazette on Tuesday, March 25, 2025. Please also see the WCIA TV interview on the same topic. 

For a relative small amount of money – about $5 more per month on a $100,000 home – Champaign residents can support the City of Champaign Township, which provides General Assistance and Rental Assistance to Champaign residents, and also operates the Strides Shelter. The City of Champaign Township also includes the Township Assessor’s office, which is currently understaffed.

Please vote YES on the property tax referendum on the ballot for residents of the City of Champaign.

The City of Champaign Township’s current tax levy is extremely low at 0.0296%. By comparison, the levy for Cunningham Township (in the city of Urbana) is about ten times greater at 0.3015%, and Decatur Township’s levy is even higher at 0.3527%.

The City of Champaign Township property tax levy will help fund vital services provided to Champaign residents, including rental assistance to prevent evictions, and General Assistance to provide financial support to residents with disabilities while they are applying for Disability income from SSI and/or SSDI – a grueling process that can take a very long time. The Township property tax will also help fund additional personnel for the Township Assessor’s Office, which will help support timely and fair property tax assessments for Champaign residents. Lastly, but not least, the property tax levy will help support the Strides Shelter, which is currently understaffed and at risk of closing due to lack of adequate funding.

Strides Shelter opened in 2023, thanks to a $750,000 ARPA grant provided by the City of Urbana. Other local governmental bodies, including the Champaign County Mental Health Board, also contribute to services provided at Strides by funding various nonprofit organizations that deliver services there. While Strides Shelter is located in Champaign, a tremendous amount of financial support for the services provided there come from other funding streams. Many non-profits collaborate to try to help Strides clients get back on their feet, while Strides provides the shelter they need.

READ ON!