Illinois moved closer to drastic Medicaid cuts Monday with proposed legislation that could excise nearly $1.4 billion from the state's program by shrinking benefits, such as regular adult dental care, and cutting payments to most hospitals and nursing homes.

Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn may use an executive order to establish a health insurance exchange, a website where consumers could comparison shop for insurance that's a key piece of President Barack Obama's health care law, according to Quinn's chief health care adviser.

U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder said Wednesday that the Justice Department will respond "appropriately" to a federal appellate judge in Texas who demanded a letter recognizing federal courts' authority to strike down laws passed by Congress.

It's a tricky math problem to get to the $2.7 billion that Gov. Pat Quinn wants cut out of Illinois's projected Medicaid spending, and four lawmakers designated to take a first shot at it will have a tough time figuring out what to subtract.

Bill Dunphy thought his colonoscopy would be free.

Consumers can now check up on thousands of doctors and chiropractors in Illinois, including accessing information about malpractice cases, thanks to a public database that went back online Wednesday.

Hospital stays for heart failure fell a remarkable 30 percent in Medicare patients over a decade, the first such decline in the United States and forceful evidence that the nation is making headway in reducing the billion-dollar burden of a common condition.

Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius told abortion rights supporters at a Chicago fundraiser Wednesday that Republicans want to roll back women's health gains 50 years.