Illinois residents are getting a better idea of how new state government budget cuts will affect them. That’s after the governor and lawmakers approved a plan to fix a 1.6 billion dollar budget hole.
Garth Reynolds is with the Illinois Pharmacists Association. He says pharmacists will see some of the cuts by not seeing as many state reimbursements for Medicaid patients.
“Medicaid is a voluntary program, so if a pharmacy would choose, they could decide to no longer accept Medicaid for their patients. Which would leave those patients with one less pharmacist to obtain services from.”
Reynolds says that means patients may go to emergency rooms for medicine which is costly. The governor and lawmakers still are negotiating a much bigger budget gap for next year.