Speaking of Babies Being Born

This just in:

As Gov. Pat Quinn noted in his budget address last month, more than 50 percent of all births in Illinois are paid for by the state and federal health care program for the poor and disabled. In part, that's because Illinois has fairly liberal income eligibility levels for pregnant women compared to other states.

Well, we could improve our budget by making our eligibility levels less liberal, right?

No.

The federal health care overhaul, President Barack Obama's landmark legislation, requires states to keep their Medicaid eligibility stable, barring Illinois and other states from saving money by lowering income ceilings for pregnant women and other groups.

Yes, oh yes,
it's a lovely mess.