Governor Quinn Defends Medicaid Cuts

Quinn said without 1.6 billion dollars in Medicaid cuts the state's healthcare system would collapse dragging Illinois even further into the red.

This means the state will no longer provide a subsidy for the Federal Prescription Drug, Part-D, program, meaning low-income seniors and people with disabilities on Medicaid will have to seek federal assistance.

The cuts also mean healthcare providers will have to find a way to either absorb the 3.5-percent reduction in reimbursements or find another way to balance out the cost.

A concern that some believe might be passed on to insurance policy holders.

"These were difficult decisions but necessary in order to make sure our basic system of healthcare for 3 million people in Illinois, more than half of the babies in Illinois are born on the Medicaid system, we got to make sure that it's here today and here tomorrow," said Quinn.

The state still owes nearly 6-billion dollars in Medicaid reimbursements and Quinn says he's been working on a plan that would restructure the payment procedure that he hopes will alleviate that burden.