Although hospital surgeries and emergency room visits dropped slightly in the third quarter of this year compared with the same period in 2007, health care consumption is generally considered recession proof. If people are sick, they go get checked out, regardless of the economic climate. That’s problematic in an economic crunch, because as revenue sources dry up, it’s often state and federal medical programs that are first on the chopping block. Illinois currently owes a whopping $4.5 billion to health care providers, including more than $2 billion in Medicaid reimbursement. While state officials advanced a crucial $1.4 billion borrowing plan earlier this month, it won’t begin to cover the state’s medical debt. And Illinois isn’t alone, according to the Washington Post:

Already, 19 states—including Maryland and Virginia—and the District of Columbia have lowered payments to hospitals and nursing homes, eliminated coverage for some treatments, and forced some recipients out of the insurance program completely.

Barack Obama’s transition team has signaled that extra help for Medicaid will be included as part of his administration’s economic stimulus proposal. And like spending on neighborhood stabilization -- which we covered last week -- it makes both moral and economic sense to prioritize Medicaid payments.

A new study by Families USA underscores the point. Using the latest congressional proposal to increase Federal Medicaid Matching Payments as its base, the advocacy organization estimates that Medicaid support would generate more business activity, job growth, and wage hikes in Illinois than practically any other state in the union. According to their research, a $1.3 billion jolt would trigger $2.5 billion in business activity, create 22,800 jobs, and boost wages by $883 million.

By lengthening the amount of time it takes to pay health care providers, Illinois officials have put the uninsured and underinsured at risk. Now is the time to close the gap.