Trump’s ‘Big, Beautiful Bill’: The impact on Medicaid programs in Illinois
Sen. Chuck Schumer, Minority Leader, D-N.Y., is at a nursing home in Staten Island, in New York, on Monday, March 31, 2025, to speak against the prospect of Medicaid funding cuts. AP Photo/Ted Shaffrey
Earlier this year, President Donald Trump said he wanted “one big, beautiful bill” that renewed tax cuts, and clawed money out of social welfare programs. Last month, Republicans in the U.S. House of Representatives narrowly passed the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which will now be considered by the U.S. Senate.
This bill is expected to cause more than 7 million Americans to lose access to Medicaid and other government-backed health care programs. What does this mean for Illinoisans? Two public policy experts offer their analysis.
GUESTS
Paula Worthington
Senior Lecturer, Harris School of Public Policy, University of Chicago
Joan Alker
Executive Director of the Center for Children and Families & Research Professor, Georgetown McCourt School of Public Policy