After several closed door meetings, Gov. Pat Quinn will soon pick what state centers for the mentally ill
and developmentally disabled will be shut down due to budget problems.
A group of Chicagoans plan on caroling at City Hall tomorrow morning, but their song list and message may not evoke feelings of merriment and warmth. In fact, the carolers hope to send a stern message to Mayor Rahm Emanuel about their refusal to accept the closing of half of the city's mental health clinics and privatization of neighborhood health clinics, as outlined in the 2012 city budget.
If you have always had the privilege of health insurance, you may not fully understand the serious need for health care reform and the improved accessiblity to care and coverage that it will provide to millions of Americans. But a series by Illinois Health Matters may help make the dire need for reform more clear to those who haven't had to battle for care and coverage due to pre-exisiting conditions, part-time work, job loss, or self employment.
In order for the landmark Affordable Care Act to be implemented successfully, Illinois, along with other states, needs to set up a health insurance exchange. The General Assembly, though, has dithered and what form a health exchange will take isn’t at all clear heading into the state’s fall veto session.
The Pharmacy Choice and Access Now coaliton has announced its launch in Illinois in order to help "preserv[e] access to quality and affordable healthcare."
In a move to protect healthcare amid growing tensions between President Barack Obama, House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) and other political leaders in Washington, D.C., members of the President’s home-state Democratic Congressional Delegation—and SEIU—are urging him to avoid Medicaid cuts that would impact 2 million Illinois residents.
Health insurers in Illinois can raise rates with impunity, while making enormous profits and doing little to improve health care for their customers. But a bill introduced in the Illinois House would change that. The legislation would create what is known as rate review, requiring insurers to inform the Department of Insurance of any rate hikes, giving the department an opportunity to reject what it determines are excessive or discriminatory increases.
Last year, the biggest insurance companies reported (PDF) surpluses of $28.3 billion, while increasing premiums over 18 percent, according to the Department of Insurance. Since 2005, insurance rates in Illinois have skyrocketed over 181 percent. Thirty states currently have legislation to provide a check on rate hikes by health insurance companies, but Illinois is not one of them.
State Rep. Greg Harris (D-Chicago), the lead sponsor of the rate review bill (HB 1501), told Progress Illinois his legislation would "provide information to the Department of Insurance to be sure that the
increases they're asking for in premiums are fair and just." He added that thanks in part to federal grants issued to Illinois as part of the federal health care reform, the bill is also revenue neutral. The bill seems like a no-brainer, though it faces an uncertain fate in the House Insurance Committee. Harris said he is not after corporate profits but he wants to protect consumers and create transparency. "I think people justifiably want to know if those going to increase health care or is this going into someone's pocket," he said.
Earlier today, we posted a story that reviews some of the dynamics -- increased enrollment, managed care, possible cuts, new treatment efforts -- swirling around the state's Medicaid program. Here's another, more newsier one: Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan announced last week a $25 million settlement with Blue Cross-Blue Shield of Illinois stemming from allegations that the "company denied coverage of nursing care needed for sick children and
other fragile patients and fraudulently shifted the cost of this
expensive care to the state and federal Medicaid program."
In the settlement, the company denies all wrongdoing and liability. Nonetheless, Blue Cross-Blue Shield will send $14.25 million back to the State of Illinois, $9.5 million to the federal government, and pay $1.25 million to consumers who lost out to close the case. With Medicaid rolls in Illinois swelled by the economic swoon, the last thing the state needs are more patients with complex needs unjustifiably kicked into its system.
A group of Chicagoans plan on caroling at City Hall tomorrow morning, but their song list and message may not evoke feelings of merriment and warmth. In fact, the carolers hope to send a stern message to Mayor Rahm Emanuel about their refusal to accept the closing of half of the city's mental health clinics and privatization of neighborhood health clinics, as outlined in the 2012 city budget. 
If you have always had the privilege of health insurance, you may not fully understand the serious need for health care reform and the improved accessiblity to care and coverage that it will provide to millions of Americans. But a series by 
In a move to protect healthcare amid growing tensions between President Barack Obama, House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) and other political leaders in Washington, D.C., members of the President’s home-state Democratic Congressional Delegation—and SEIU—are urging him to avoid Medicaid cuts that would impact 2 million Illinois residents.
Health insurers in Illinois can raise rates with impunity, while making enormous profits and doing little to improve health care for their customers. But a bill introduced in the Illinois House would change that. The legislation would create what is known as rate review, requiring insurers to inform the Department of Insurance of any rate hikes, giving the department an opportunity to reject what it determines are excessive or discriminatory increases.
Earlier today, we posted a story that 
