A $1.6 billion Medicaid spending cut takes a bite out of a relatively generous program, but leaves a thinner safety net for the state’s citizens most in need.

Gov. Pat Quinn on Thursday signed a series of bills including Medicaid cuts that will remove thousands from coverage and eliminate extras such as chiropractic and dental care. Medicaid soon will limit podiatry care to only those with diabetes. Many states have dumped, or limited, these extras in the wake of the recession – or not covered them all.

“You’d be hard-pressed to find any state that hasn’t already looked at adult dental, podiatry and chiropractic,” said Matt Salo of the National Association of Medicaid Directors. “These are the first things to go in any state.”