This guy is bound and determined to screw the poor. And he won’t be happy until he screws them in every single way possible. What’s he thinking? Remove their health services and maybe they’ll die?

Members of the Illinois delegation are gearing up to fight proposed cuts to Cook County Hospital and others that provide care to the poor, which public health officials say could result in hospital and clinic closures and other cuts to services in critical areas.

The Bush administration is moving to impose cost limits for public health care providers around the country, partly by limiting payments to so-called “safety net” providers that care for a high percentage of uninsured and Medicaid patients. State officials estimate that Illinois public officials could lose $623 million under the plan each year.

“At a time when states are working toward increasing health care coverage for the uninsured, (this) proposal would thwart their progress by weakening an already fragile safety net,” Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) and Sen. Elizabeth Dole (R-N.C.) wrote in a letter to colleagues on Thursday. “The Medicaid program is a shared responsibility between the states and federal government, and attempts to shift the cost burden onto states will leave them with no choice but to cut benefits or eliminate coverage.”

Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) is also a co’signer of the letter, and other members of the Illinois delegation talked Thursday about fighting the proposed cuts in the U.S. House. Rep. Danny Davis (D-Ill.) is leading the charge for the delegation in the House.

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