Julie Hamos, director of the Illinois Department of Healthcare and Family Services, said strategies to cut the state’s Medicaid budget will have to include reducing payments to physicians and hospitals, lowering the number of Medicaid-eligible people and readjusting Medicaid benefits, according to the report.
Illinois’ current Medicaid budget is $14 billion, with the state contributing $8.6 billion. Unpaid Medicaid bills to providers could reach $1.8 billion by the end of this fiscal year, and that number could hit $21 billion by the end of FY 2017.
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