Tagged: medicaid

Another advocacy group is using potential job losses to oppose Illinois Governor Pat Quinn's plan to cut Medicaid. The Responsible Budget Coalitions says the state would lose almost 38,000 jobs and millions of dollars in economic activity related to health care. The coalition includes advocates for retirees, housing and other services. Quinn wants to cut Medicaid spending by about $2 billion dollars, but Ralph Martire of the Center for Tax and Budget Accountability says it won't save that much because spending less means the state gets less in federal matching funds.

A national liberal advocacy group is criticizing Illinois Governor Pat Quinn's proposed solution to the state's Medicaid crisis.  Families USA is issuing a report Wednesday estimating job losses of more than 25,000 if Illinois cuts Medicaid spending by 2 point 7 billion dollars.  That's a reaction to Governor Quinn's call for the Legislature to stop pushing unpaid Medicaid bills into future years.

Illinois lawmakers looking for ways to cut expenses in the state’s Medicaid program may consider the big-ticket cost of prescription drugs as a tempting target. Prescriptions cost the Illinois Medicaid program more than $1 billion a year. Medicaid covers drugs for a wide variety of illnesses, from asthma to schizophrenia, for the poor and disabled. Legislators are looking at other states for ideas. Tennessee, for example, limits adults to five prescriptions each month.