Durbin: GOP plan to cut Medicaid would hurt schools

June 17--BLOOMINGTON -- U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin visited Bloomington High School on Friday to explain how Twin City schools, already strapped for cash from inadequate state funding, would be hurt further by a Republican-led bill to repeal the Affordable Care Act.

The GOP health care proposal includes a $834 billion cut to Medicaid over the next decade. President Donald Trump's health care budget would cut an additional $600 billion from Medicaid.

"Illinois schools currently receive $144 million in Medicaid funding each year. Our schools use the money to provide vision and dental screening to low-income kids and services for students with disabilities," said Durbin, D-Ill., at a news conference in the BHS library.

McLean County Unit 5 and Bloomington District 87 collectively receive about $500,000 in Medicaid funding to partially reimburse those in-school services for hundreds of students.

Schools are required to provide services to students with special needs under the federal Individuals with Disabilities Education Act.

District 87 Superintendent Barry Reilly said the district receives $300,000 each year from Medicaid for services like school nurses, counseling, occupational and physical therapy and specialized equipment.

"If those dollars were to go away, the services obviously don't," said Reilly. "We're already spending in deficit because of the lack of payments from the state. We can do that because we built an appropriate fund balance, but everything they throw on top of it continues to whittle it down and it will eventually dry up."

Unit 5 Superintendent Mark Daniel said the Normal-based district receives about $225,000 in reimbursements from Medicaid for special services.

"We're talking about our students who are the most vulnerable. These are medically fragile students. Without these support systems, they don't attend school," said Daniel.

If the Medicaid funds were cut, Daniel said the district would have to look internally for additional funding.

"Some organization has to meet the needs of these students," he said. "If we won't serve them, who will?"

Besides being federally required, Reilly said the services are "absolutely needed."

"Because of the lack of services today in our community due to reduced resources, we're becoming more of a mental health service provider and we're not getting more money to do that. Those needs won't go away," said Reilly.

Durbin said he is open to bipartisan discussion to improve healthcare reform before the Republican proposal moves further.

"This (Affordable Care Act) law is very important, but not perfect, and we can do a lot to make it better," he said.

Durbin added that the shooting of GOP House Whip Steve Scalise and his recovery from several surgeries has drawn both parties closer together and has had a "psychological" impact.

"Yesterday we had a bipartisan gathering and I'm sitting with these Republican senators and I said, 'Isn't this the right moment for us to open the doors and sit down together on healthcare reform?' I hope next week we'll see that," he said.

Follow Julia Evelsizer on Twitter: @pg_evelsizer

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