The House and Senate Health & Welfare committees will hold a joint listening session Friday on all Department of Health & Welfare programs, including Medicaid, which accounts for about 80 percent of the H&W budget. The session, at which anyone may speak, will run from 8 to 10 a.m. in the Lincoln Auditorium, on the lower level of the state Capitol.

Similar public hearings in past years have drawn much testimony from patients, caregivers and service providers who work with state Health & Welfare programs, often highlighting complaints or problems with the services.