With a little more than a month remaining in the spring legislative
session in Springfield, advocates for Illinois children say it's
important to understand the factors driving the state's fiscal year 2014
budget debate and what can be done to help avoid damaging cuts to
education and other critical programs.
David Lloyd, senior policy analyst with the Fiscal Policy Center at Voices for Illinois Children,
told advocates on a web conference call this week that maintaining funding
for their priorities depends on a sustainable state budget that raises
necessary revenues.
“These are difficult choices, but I think
eventually the math wins," Lloyd said. "Without additional revenues to
pay the liabilities such as pensions and Medicaid, Illinois will be
forced to cut other programs. There’s just no other way around it."
By attempting to provide more oversight of the drugs that patients have been
prescribed, a Medicaid policy that is expected to save $90 million by
the end of June will take full effect next month.
When the U.S. Supreme Court endorsed the fundamental legality of the Affordable Care Act in June, it left open the option for states to decide on various aspects of participation, including the Medicaid expansion.
“Illinois
should take advantage of a unique opportunity to offer health care
coverage to hundreds of thousands of low-income residents,” the report
reads. “Given that the federal government will provide nearly all
of the funding, extending Medicaid eligibility is a very good bargain
for Illinois. We can’t afford to pass up this valuable opportunity.”
Conceived by then-Governor Rod Blagojevich in 2005, the All Kids program has helped ensure that 96 percent of Illinois children get health care insurance.
Chicago-area seniors and people with disabilities will start to enroll
in state-contracted private health insurance plans today under the
Integrated Care Program (ICP). The Medicaid-managed care system will be
headed by the Illinois Department of Healthcare and Family Services
(HFS), but health care advocates were quick to caution that it might not
be a good deal for Illinois in the long run.
In fact, the Illinois
Campaign for Better Healthcare now questions how Illinois Health
Connect, another HFS program that they say is more cost-efficient with
higher quality care, will survive. Read more »
With a little more than a month remaining in the spring legislative
session in Springfield, advocates for Illinois children say it's
important to understand the factors driving the state's fiscal year 2014
budget debate and what can be done to help avoid damaging cuts to
education and other critical programs. 
In a February report called '
Chicago-area seniors and people with disabilities will start to enroll
in state-contracted private health insurance plans today under the
Integrated Care Program (ICP). The Medicaid-managed care system will be
headed by the Illinois Department of Healthcare and Family Services
(HFS), but health care advocates were quick to caution that it might not
be a good deal for Illinois in the long run. 