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 [1], the Senate doubled down [2]—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. [3]
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