‘Toughest’ Illinois Budget May Cut $2.7 Billion From Medicaid

Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn will propose a $33.8 billion spending plan that would cut $2.7 billion from the Medicaid program that provides healthcare for the poor.

It’s the state’s “toughest budget,” Jack Lavin, Quinn’s chief of staff, told reporters in a briefing in Springfield, the state capital.

The plan includes the proposed closing of two prisons and four mental health facilities, he said. The state faces a backlog of $9 billion in unpaid bills.