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Medicaid
PI Original
by Adam Doster
2:32pm
Thu Nov 18, 2010
6 comments

Signs Of Progress In Springfield

State legislature

During the first three days of Illinois' fall veto session, the wheels started to turn on a few initiatives that are critically important to the moral and economic health of the state.

PI Original
by Adam Doster
2:23pm
Mon Oct 25, 2010
25 comments

The Brady Record On Health Care

Health Care

The chief question candidates running for office this election cycle must answer is how to improve the economy. How to reform the health care system and expand access to coverage follow closely behind. We look at GOP gubernatorial candidate Bill Brady's record on the topic.

Quick Hit
by Adam Doster
3:37pm
Mon Oct 18, 2010

Brady Falsely Claims Illinois Doesn't Verify Medicaid Eligibility

During last evening's gubernatorial debate, GOP nominee Bill Brady was asked to identify one program he would cut if elected on November 2. Medicaid, the state's public health program for the poor, was tops on his list. "The Medicaid program under Governor Quinn allows people like Governor Quinn to walk in and receive an eligibility card," he claimed. "We don’t verify eligibility in the Medicaid program." Listen:

That policy sounds totally irresponsible. Fortunately for taxpayers, Brady is just making it up. Here's a statement obtained by the Capitol Fax from a spokesperson with the Illinois Department of Healthcare and Family Services:

Yes, HFS verifies income information when an individual applies for Medicaid benefits, as it is both state and federally required. At application, HFS checks paystubs as well as federal data for income sources, such as Social Security. We also identify unemployment benefits and coordinate with DHS for any income information received in conjunction with SNAP or TANF programs.

It's going to be awfully difficult for Brady to balance the state's budget if he doesn't even understand how the state's largest program operates.

Quick Hit
by Adam Doster
10:31am
Fri Oct 1, 2010
5 comments

Why Does Illinois Spend So Much On Medicaid?

Why does Illinois spend a huge chunk of its annual budget on Medicaid? It's not because of "waste, fraud, and abuse," as GOP gubernatorial nominee Bill Brady proclaims. It's not because Illinois offers free coverage to middle-class households, as the Tribune asserts. Illinois spends a lot on its public health program because demand is extremely high.

This is a point we can't stress enough. Between December 2007 and December 2009, enrollment increased in Illinois by almost 200,000 people. This spike tracks with national data; a new 50-state survey from the Kaiser Family Foundation found that states experienced rapid growth in their Medicaid enrollment last year because unemployment was so high. (In an employer-based health care system, no job means no insurance.) "For nearly all states," Kaiser writes, "the single most significant factor in Medicaid spending growth is the growth in the number of persons enrolled in the program."

That's not to say enrollment is the sole cause of spending growth. State officials also report that health care inflation and an increase in the utilization of services play a part. On that front, Illinois is already implementing policies to "bend our cost curve," in the parlance of our times. Its two public programs that employ "managed care" principles, Illinois Health Connect and Your Healthcare Plus, saved roughly $440 million last year. Both plans, mind you, would be eviscerated if the GOP mandates that all patients enroll in private managed care programs.

Quick Hit
by Adam Doster
10:31am
Thu Aug 12, 2010

The Success Of Public Managed Care, Part Two

Essentially every Republican politician in Springfield, including gubernatorial nominee Bill Brady, wants to structurally reform Illinois' Medicaid system. By forcing all Medicaid enrollees into a private managed care program, they argue, the state can deliver better care while saving at least $1 billion.

Next time Brady or his colleagues bring up Medicaid, reporters should ask them to respond to new data out of the Washington-based Robert Graham Center. The think tank just published a study of two public programs in Illinois that are using managed care principles and would be eviscerated by the GOP's plan. In fiscal year 2009, Illinois Health Connect (which links up 1.7 million Medicaid recipients with primary care doctors) saved the state $140 million while Your Healthcare Plus (which helps 220,000 Illinoisans more effectively manage chronic diseases) saved $300 million. Those totals are even more substantial than Medicaid director Theresa Eagleson identified in April. And the programs don't carry any of the risks of "failures, abuses, and outright fraud" perpetrated in the past by private managed care organizations in Illinois. It seems like Illinois' Medicaid system isn't working as poorly as the GOP contends. 

Quick Hit
by Adam Doster
10:04am
Tue Aug 3, 2010

The GOP Is Filibustering Illinois' Recovery

Democrats in Washington thought they had crafted a fiscally responsible state aid bill, one that gives state governments $26 billion to prevent teacher layoffs and Medicaid cuts. (In Illinois alone, the Medicaid provision would plug a $750 million hole.) When the Congressional Budget Office ran the numbers, though, it found that party leaders would need to identify an additional $4.9 billion in offsets to keep the bill deficit-neutral. And because Republicans will filibuster anything (except tax breaks to the wealthy) that adds even .01 percent to the federal deficit, it's back to the drawing board for Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV).

This is a frustrating development for a number of reasons. While Illinois' tax system has created a structural deficit at home, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernake admits that the budget holes engulfing most state governments were caused primarily by the national recession, which sucked up revenues and drained rainy day funds. Instead of continuing to lend a hand during this painful recovery, Senate Republicans are forcing states to cut back spending on education and health care, which will have a detrimental effect on the state's overall economy.