Medicaid cuts could change for Illinois

MARSHALL, Ill. (WTHI) - Last month over two billion dollars in cuts were made to Illinois' Medicaid program. Now that those cuts are officially in effect, how is it affecting our Illinois residents?

Last week the state of Illinois sent out letters to around 25,000 citizens who were taken off the state's Medicaid program. But going forward, that may not be for long.

News 10 sat down with Dr. James Turner, a physician at the Cork medical clinic in Marshall. We wanted to find out what the future is for Medicaid in Illinois.

He said this week the letters began arriving; informing people there were losing coverage; vastly changing health care for a large portion of Illinois.

In addition to the large number of adults cut off, the state run dental program was reduced; prescription drug plans were all but cut, and reductions in the payments to certain health care facilities.

Nursing homes and hospitals may see significant losses in the next year. But then again, the upholding of the national Affordable Care Act infuses billions of dollars into every state's Medicaid programs.

Dr. Turner says the Affordable Care Act could undo Illinois' cuts

"It's a very confusing thing to be cutting people off a roll in one hand and then two years later we're going to be putting them back on and adding more,” Dr. Turner said, “doctors and hospitals will be paid at 100 percent of the Medicaid rate. It’s going to be a much better reimbursement for them, when they do come back in. So Medicaid funding should be very good for the states."