Earlier today, we posted a story that reviews some of the dynamics -- increased enrollment, managed care, possible cuts, new treatment efforts -- swirling around the state's Medicaid program. Here's another, more newsier one: Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan announced last week a $25 million settlement with Blue Cross-Blue Shield of Illinois stemming from allegations that the "company denied coverage of nursing care needed for sick children and other fragile patients and fraudulently shifted the cost of this expensive care to the state and federal Medicaid program."

In the settlement, the company denies all wrongdoing and liability. Nonetheless, Blue Cross-Blue Shield will send $14.25 million back to the State of Illinois, $9.5 million to the federal government, and pay $1.25 million to consumers who lost out to close the case. With Medicaid rolls in Illinois swelled by the economic swoon, the last thing the state needs are more patients with complex needs unjustifiably kicked into its system.