Proposed cuts to Medicaid and other programs at the state level would have a devastating effect on some rural health programs. Jennifer Fuller reports on a special Illinois Senate Committee hearing Wednesday in Carbondale:
Roby Williams is the administrator for Hardin County Hospital. He says as a critical access hospital, his patients are primarily Medicare and Medicaid recipients - meaning any cut will have a big effect:
“We’re just on the edge, you know? We’re surviving, and we’re doing well, considering. But there’s no room left.”
Senators heard from more than a dozen stakeholders from southern Illinois during their special hearing in Carbondale. All of them told lawmakers Governor Rauner’s proposed cuts are too much to bear – and asked them to reach a compromise that would mitigate the pain.