* March 6…

An analysis by the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office that was sent to lawmakers this week showed that budget goals outlined in a House GOP plan could not be reached without reducing spending on Medicaid, clashing with commitments from Republicans not to cut the popular entitlement program.

The CBO’s letter is here.

* US Rep. Darin LaHood was interviewed by WCBU Radio last week…

Q: What’s your position on the potential cuts to Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, things of that nature?

LaHood: Well, no one has talked about cutting Social Security. The President said just the opposite, that he’s not going to cut Social Security or Medicare. So that’s a political issue that people are trying to use, but I’m not supportive of that.

* The governor held a “Save Medicaid” event in Peoria last week. From a question during his resulting press conference…

Q: This morning, Congressman LaHood said on the radio that any talk about destruction of Medicare or Medicaid was just a political ploy and that none of these programs would be cut. So, what would you say to the congressman if he was here?

Pritzker: Well, if he were here, I would love to hear him say that to everybody here, constituents of his, but apparently he’s unwilling to say it to your face. He’ll maybe say it to a camera here or there, and then when his colleagues vote to take funding away from Medicaid, what will he say then. What will he say then? I think he’ll say, ‘Well, this was the will of the Congress and the majority,’ right? But listen, great, stand up for Medicaid. But have you heard him stand up for Medicaid? No.

So I suspect that he is not giving you the whole truth, and that, in fact, what he’s saying is, ‘Well, we’re going to preserve Medicaid, but we’re going to take away,’ because this is what they’ve talked about, take away the Obamacare, Affordable Care Act piece of Medicaid, which is about coverage for about 800,000 people in the state of Illinois, and it takes away about $8 billion of funding for that program. And he will say, ‘I preserved Medicaid. See, the other part of Medicaid is just fine.’

But what about the 800,000 people? And by the way, many of those are senior citizens who are in nursing homes. Where are they going to go? Where are they going to go? And and people who, you know, single people who desperately need coverage. I bet Jesse may be one of them. I’m saying people who are sick, who are single, who are covered by this program, will lose health care coverage. So what is he going to do to make sure that they continue to get health care coverage? And again, his unwillingness to show up here kind of tells the story.

LaHood was asked about Medicaid, but didn’t actually mention Medicaid in his response, but Pritzker didn’t know that.

* Related…

* Capitol News Illinois | Durbin, Pritzker put pressure on Republicans to oppose cuts to key programs: Illinois covers about half of Medicaid costs for about 3.4 million people, or 1 in 4 residents, under the traditional program. Medicaid eligibility was expanded in 2010 by the Affordable Care Act to include more adults at higher income levels. Approximately 770,000 people in Illinois are covered under the expansion and the federal government pays 90% of the cost for that group. If Congress severely reduced that program, the state wouldn’t be able to make up the billions of dollars the federal government sends Illinois each year to cover the program, Gov. JB Pritzker said at a news conference Friday in Peoria. “I believe that blood will be on their hands,” Pritzker said of Trump and Republicans. “People will lose their lives as a result of what they’re trying to do right now.”

* Sun-Times | Health coverage for Chicago area immigrants jeopardized in Gov. Pritzker’s budget proposal: Raymundo Ruiz, 53, of Melrose Park, worries his medical condition could worsen if he loses his health insurance through HBIA. He was diagnosed with Parkison’s disease about four years ago after a doctor noticed his hands wouldn’t stop shaking. “It would be fatal for me because with just one hour that I miss my medications, my hands start to shake and I get very tense,” Ruiz said in Spanish. “I can’t do anything. It would affect me a lot.”