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GOP: Medical Providers Lose Out in Transit Deal
Leading Republicans in Springfield say Illinois medical providers are getting the shaft.

The deal to help the Chicago Transit Authority avoid a fare increase for the next two years depends on the state forking over about $32 million to pay debt service on a loan. The governor says the state has the money for this because it got a boost in federal Medicaid funds.

State Sen. Matt Murphy (R-Palatine), a candidate for lieutenant governor, says medical providers are being shorted. "It's a blatant pander, and it's insulting to the medical providers who that money is intended for," Murphy said. "We're supposed to be solving the Medicaid issue, and he's siphoning the money off for something else."

The state owes $3.5 billion to its creditors. Many of them are doctors and hospitals that have provided services to Medicaid clients.

Illinois House Minority Leader Tom Cross (R-Oswego) says the CTA would have occasioned increased revenue of $37 million if Quinn would have agreed to end free rides for senior citizens, a "political stunt of former Gov. Blagojevich," Cross says, which Quinn considered but then decided against.

(Illinois Radio Network)
11 12 09 by Newsroom
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