Joel L. Rubin, MSW, LSW, ACSW, CAE
NASW-Illinois Chapter Executive Director
This year's theme, Social Work: Compassion + Action, has never been more important with the current challenges facing the social work profession. The national Social Work Month toolkit can be found at https://www.socialworkers.org/News/Social-Work-Month.
During this year’s Social Work Month, there are many issues that are being seriously challenged by the current administration, none bigger than the impact of major cuts to the Medicaid program. The current administration wants to cut the generous Medicaid federal contribution the Affordable Care Act gave to more than 800,000 Illinois recipients. The government pays for 90% of this group's coverage compared to just over 50% for the core Medicaid population. This would mean that 862,774 Illinois residents could lose their health care coverage.
If federal funding goes below 90%, an Illinois trigger law would automatically end coverage for those 862,774 people, or the state would have to make cuts to other aspects of Medicaid or unrelated programs to make up for the lost federal dollars. Either way, Illinois must make some tough choices.
Former NASW-IL Chapter Board member Rosanelly Garcia, LCSW, a lead emergency room social worker at Mount Sinai Hospital noted in a recent report in Crain’s Chicago Business that there’s generational trauma. “We have limited health literacy, gang violence, substance use and mental health issues,” she says. “The lawmakers may not be thinking about the mother who can’t work because she has a child with special needs, or an elderly woman with dementia that needs full-time care.”
All social workers need to become more aware of the issues and be committed to protecting Medicaid in Illinois and throughout the country. Additionally, this past week, Illinois Governor JB Pritzker brought together leaders and advocates in Illinois to showcase a united front and commitment to protecting Medicaid and healthcare in Illinois. Medicaid covers 3.4 million Illinoisans, approximately 25% of the state’s population, including 1.4 million children. https://gov-pritzker-newsroom.prezly.com/gov-pritzker-illinois-leaders-advocate-for-illinois-families-on-medicaid-amid-federal-gop-threats.
Stay tuned for legislative alerts regarding the changing landscape regarding the future of Medicaid and other issues vital to the profession and the people we serve.
You can also join us for this year’s Advocacy Day in Springfield on Wednesday, April 9. Register at: https://naswil.wufoo.com/forms/43030-040925-2025-advocacy-day. Please stay up to date with all news from Springfield through the NASW-IL Bill Tracker at https://www.naswil.org/billtracker.
In other news….
Registration is now open for the 2025 NASW National Conference, Social Work: Celebrating Our Legacy | Developing the Future happening June 15–19 in Chicago, Illinois! There is will also be a special reception for all Illinois attendees on Tuesday, June 17th. More details to follow.
I would like to extend an NASW-IL welcome to Mia Hill who joined the chapter’s professional team as events & education coordinator late last month. Mia is a 2024 graduate of Loyola University Chicago with a bachelor’s of arts in sociology and anthropology/criminal justice minor. Welcome, Mia!
We look forward to seeing many of you at both in-person and virtual events during Social Work Month.
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