Proposed Medicaid cuts will hurt real people like David

Robin Hood took from the rich and gave to the poor. Congressional Republicans are now poised to play Reverse Robin Hood. Their budget committees are in the process of cutting $880 billion in spending, mostly from Medicaid, in order to offset tax cuts for billionaires and profitable corporations.

Medicaid cuts will be devastating for some of the most vulnerable people in Illinois — individuals with intellectual disabilities. Because of a pre-birth brain injury, my adult son David requires 24/7 care. He lives in a Medicaid-funded group home and receives Medicaid-funded day training, both in Elgin. The federal government pays 51% of his service costs and Illinois covers the rest. Any reduction in federal funding will strip away access to vital services David needs to live a full life in the community.

Why are Republicans determined to hurt people who don’t deserve it? So the richest Americans can own even more. Forbes reports there are 737 billionaires in the U.S. with a combined wealth of $5.5 trillion. Their riches have almost doubled in the last four years. You don’t have to be a moral genius to know that it’s just plain wrong to shred safety net programs that David relies on in order to give massive tax cuts to Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos.

David isn’t a number — he’s a real person; he will be hurt. Congressional legislators are in their home offices the next two weeks. Tell them to reject harmful cuts to Medicaid.

James B. Gould, Carpentersville

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