The “medical home” appears to be saving Illinois taxpayers tens of millions of dollars from the state Medicaid program, a new study shows.

Illinois health officials four years ago began steps to link people enrolled in the state Medicaid health insurance program for the poor to a medical home where treatment and patient referrals are coordinated centrally as a way to keep costs down. From 2006 to 2007, Illinois Medicaid assigned nearly 2 million people to primary care doctors who agreed to coordinate these patients health care for an extra monthly payment under a program called Illinois Health Connect. Get the full story »