The Tribune’s Judith Graham touched off an interesting debate last week when she took note that nearly 300,000 Illinois children continue to fall between the cracks of Illinois’ All Kids health care program. The SouthtownStar delved deeper into the problem yesterday, explaining how it’s rooted in the state’s dysfunction:

Health care providers have sat idling for months as they wait for overdue reimbursement payments and bills pile up [...]

Compounding the problem of delays, providers receive about half of what actual office visits cost, they said.

“Doctors cannot afford to see Medicaid patients because they cannot afford to lose money,” said Dr. Gerardo Reyes, a physician in Joliet’s Provena St. Joseph Hospital pediatric and pediatric intensive care units. “Not getting that money represents a serious cash flow problem for them. Eventually, you have to pay your cost and look out for yourself.”

As we noted last week, the obvious first step to alleviating this problem is to get the state’s financial house in order. The current ripple effect is clear to see: the government delays reimbursements to doctors, doctors avoid treating patients covered by the state, patients complain about their lack of health care access, and the uninsured choose not to sign up for programs like All Kids because they figure “What’s the point?”

The congressional stimulus package will likely slow this dynamic. The House version currently includes $88 billion to help states make good on their Medicaid payments. According to the Center for Budget and Policy Priorities report (PDF), this is estimated to include $2.8 billion for Illinois. Hopefully, this will allow us to right the ship in the short-term.

Once we’re paying our bills on time, the potential next step would be to increase the reimbursement rate. During the last legislative session, State Rep. Susan Mendoza (D-Chicago) took a stab at this through HB 5331, which ultimately expired. We'll be watching to see if it reemerges this session.