Thursday, May 15, 2008

Illinois Cooking the Medicaid Books 

Governor still looking to expand program in face of deficit

By Marc Kilmer

Categories:  Illinois, Medicaid

The Chicago Tribune reports:

Comptroller Dan Hynes and several lawmakers used a stinging new audit to blast Gov. Rod Blagojevich's administration for trying to expand state-subsidized health care when the current state Medicaid program is racking up huge deficits and is sometimes taking months to pay doctors who care for the poor and elderly.

Auditor General William Holland's examination provided the first hard evidence of how the administration has camouflaged the state's budget problems by rolling over about $1.5 billion in Medicaid bills each year. Moreover, the report said, it is taking the Illinois Department of Healthcare and Family Services an average of 77 days to pay doctors and pharmacists who are not associated with large hospitals.

But, of course, the governor wants to continue with expansion plans even though the state cannot afford the current size of the program. At least he is meeting some resistance from the legislature. In many states, such as Ohio, the desire to expand these expensive programs sails through without much opposition. It will be interesting to see how this fight in Illinois plays out.

• posted by Marc Kilmer
• 2:12 pm
• 0 comment

Tuesday, April 22, 2008

Health care vs Pamper Care? 

By Liberty is for me .

Categories:  Illinois

Today, I saw WSJ's video about Northwestern's Hospital renovations.

Northwestern is a non-profit hospital that has fundraised over $39 million dollars to get a "facelift."

I must say, I was very impressed with their facilities they have a museum, computer lab for families to research illiness, and provide expecting mothers in their rooms a flat screen TV to watch television or surf the web.

However, should Northwestern have used the $39 millon toward health care or extravgance?

It would seem that they should have used that money to provide more health care rather than pamper care.  

Does Northwestern's action of luxury affect the cost of health care? 

• posted by Liberty is For Me .
• 10:47 am
• 1 comment

Wednesday, February 27, 2008

Expansion of Illinois Medicaid Rejected 

By John LaPlante

Categories:  Illinois

In Illinois, Gov. Rod Blagojevich wants to add another 147,000 people to the state's Medicaid program. But he's getting opposition from some unusual suspects--members of his own party.

The Springfield Journal-Register tells us that various legislators blasted the governor, not for the idea of expanding Medicaid, but for the way that he is doing it. Said one, "Under what chutzpah do you come to this body and ask us to approve a rule that we already rejected when you had the unmitigated gall to put 3,300 people on the program that you asked us to approve and we did not approve?"

The Chicago Sun-Times calls the vote of a legislative panel (8-2) a "serious setback," while the Chicago Tribune points out that this is the second rejection in three months.

Be thankful for the wisdom of the founding fathers; institutional factionalism is alive and well, keeping Illinois from slipping further into the mess of bad policy. To further muddle the picture, a court will soon hear a lawsuit filed against the administration.

• posted by John LaPlante
• 12:01 pm
• 0 comment

Friday, February 22, 2008

Illinois: More Taxes for Health Care 

By John LaPlante

Categories:  Illinois

On the one hand, Gov. Rod Blagojevich (D-Ill.) proposes a one-year cut in some business taxes. On the other, he calls for a 3% payroll tax to pay for an ambitious state health care plan. The Illinois Policy Institute calls it a classic bait-and-switch .

• posted by John LaPlante
• 8:51 am
• 0 comment

Friday, December 21, 2007

Illinois Governor Vulnerable on Health Care 

By Greg Blankenship, John LaPlante

Categories:  Illinois

Hypocrisy among politicians is nothing new, but Greg Blankenship, president of the Illinois Policy Institute, rips into Gov. Rod Blagojevich in a recent e-mail to friends:

This week, Governor Blagojevich gave a whole new meaning to "putting the fox in charge of the henhouse" when his point man on gambling, Chris Kelly, was indicted for federal tax fraud related to hiding his own gambling debts. The Kelly indictment was the big news around the state this week, but I doubt it was the most important.

The news of the re-indictment of Nicholas Hurtgen, related to a kickback scheme on the Health Facilities Planning Board, will probably have a far wider impact on the Governor. Unlike the original indictment, this time we learned that Hurtgen was involved in a scheme in which Plainfield Hospital was seeking to add beds for the acutely mentally ill and underserved women and their children. The hospital expansion has been blocked since 2003 by a group of competing general hospitals that didn't like having their oligopoly challenged by market competition. According to news reports, however, the Plainfield hospital would get board backing if they hired a particular contractor to do the work. According to the indictment this was all about getting campaign cash to Public Official A's war chest. Can we guess who that is?

Denying patients access to quality care for political reasons or interfering with the process for personal gain while claiming to be a champion of universal health care is just one example of how Gov. Blagojevich is a total hypocrite -- and I don't use the term lightly -- on the issue of health care. At the whim of his veto pen earlier this session, he axed funding for a number of health programs for AIDS research, veterans and other less politically important groups in an effort to expand Medicaid to families making $82,000 a year -- a larger pool of voters.

Right now, mentioning health care to a Republican legislator is akin to showing Dracula a crucifix. They run from the issue. They shouldn't. Blagojevich and national single-payer advocacy groups claim he is champion of health care. He isn't. We learned from John Kerry in 2004 that your biggest strength can be turned into your biggest weakness if there is no substance to support your claim. Let me suggest that on the issue of health care, the governor is more vulnerable than conventional wisdom -- and the Republicans -- would lead us to believe. We'll find out more in 2008.

There's plenty of "market space" left for politicians who can appeal to voters using the themes of markets and personal rather than bureaucratic control, and of course do something to bring that about.  

• posted by John LaPlante
• 8:36 am
• 0 comment

Monday, November 26, 2007

Illinois Governor Vows to Expand State Control over Health Care 

Beaten but undeterred

By John LaPlante

Categories:  Illinois

Gov. Rod Blagojevich (D.-Ill.) proposed a massive expansion of state-run health care last year, and was unanimously rebuffed by the House in the Illinois General Assembly. But he's returning with another plan of dubious quality and questionable legality.

His latest plan? Create a state-regulated insurance pool, funded by an employer mandate in the form of a 3% tax on employers that don't offer insurance.

That's not likely to fly, so the governor is ready to spend $400 million of taxpayers money on his own initiative, apart from legislative approval. The result may be a legal showdown with the Legislature over the governor's authority to spend money.

The plan is being described by one top official in the administration as giving "everybody an option to buy an affordable insurance plan." But just how affordable is "affordable?" From the Springfield Register-Journal: "All insurance companies in the state would be required to offer a Choice policy, which would be comprehensive." Doubtless, loaded up with mandates.

• posted by John LaPlante
• 11:03 am
• 0 comment

Thursday, November 15, 2007

If You Can't Get Care, is it Universal? 

Low rates in Illinois: "trouble with referrals"

By John LaPlante

Categories:  Illinois

State efforts to provide health insurance for everyone have a superficial appeal. But when they're put into place, some people are still lacking actual health care.

The Rockford Register-Star tells the story from northern Illinois:

"We’re having trouble getting patients into those practices," said one physician, speaking of patients needing to see a specialist. "Some of them are having to go to Chicago to be seen. It really is an issue for access."

For those unfamiliar with the region, the distance between Rockford and Chicago is approximately .... Let's just say that you don't want to travel all the way to Chicago for a medical appointment.

The reason for the difficulty? Low payments. Whenever government gets in on the act, it will ration in one way or another. A popular method is to low-ball payments to medical providers. That's what is happening in Illinois.

Gov. Rod Blagojevich had an initiative called "All Kids," but he is also for folding more adults into state programs. It's not a pretty sight for anyone:

But as Blagojevich pushes for even more state-subsidized health care, lawmakers and other observers say the state should first straighten out the programs it already has.

The governor’s latest proposal called for subsidized health care for every uninsured adult. Yet the state’s core health-care program, Medicaid, is on track to burn through all its annual spending authority well before the end of the fiscal year.

One legislator is quoted thusly: "No one is against universal health care."

Really? If this is what universal care is like, who needs it? Perhaps he should take a look at the Illinois Policy Institute.

• posted by John LaPlante
• 4:16 pm
• 0 comment

Wednesday, May 30, 2007

Illinois Adds Another Insurance Mandate 

By John LaPlante

Categories:  Illinois

Insurance mandates drive up the cost of insurance, and thus contribute to the number of the uninsured. They also represent an official intrusion into the free decisions of consumers, who would otherwise determine for themselves which benefits are worth the trouble.

Even so, Illinois is adding another mandated benefit to policies sold in the state, the HPV vaccine that has been the subject of controversy in several states.

• posted by John LaPlante
• 1:23 pm
• 0 comment

Friday, May 18, 2007

Illinois Covered -- RIP? 

By Gregory Blankenship

Categories:  Illinois

While the Wall Street Journal declared Gov. Blagojevich's "Illinois Covered" "universal health care" proposal dead last week as a result of the 107 - 0 resolution against a gross receipts tax, the socialized medicine set isn't giving up.

According to news stories in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch (yes they are IL paper, too) agitators for a DMV takeover of health care are launching an ad campaign and are planning a march on Springfield (which will have zero impact).

Meanwhile, the Speaker of the House polled his Democrat caucus to find out its views on the Governor's budget and their priorities. Two things came out of that. 

1.  There wasn't much support among House Dems for a tax hike

2.  The Governor's universal health care plan wasn't even asked about let alone voted upon.

Just the same, we've built on some work done by Grace-Marie Turner and David Knot et. al. to point out that in many respects, while Illinois dithers, the market is already acting to bring down health costs. 

• posted by Gregory Blankenship
• 5:49 pm
• 0 comment

Monday, May 14, 2007

Economic Reality Dooms Illinois Plan 

By John LaPlante

Categories:  Illinois

Ambitious plans for tax-financed health care coverage must, at some point, meet the reality test. Today's Wall Street Journal editorial page offers a review of one bold experiment that went nowhere, once everyone realized that economic reality would set in.

Invoking religious overtones, populism, and a push for universal health care coverage, Governor Rod Blagojevich (D-Ill.) wanted to impose a $7.6 billion tax. In the end, it was rejected by a vote of 107-0 by the state house, controlled by the governor's own party.

What made the difference? A realization on all sides that the plan would be an economic disaster.

"One lesson here," says the Journal, is that it is far easier to talk about 'progressive' political causes than to pay for them without doing larger economic harm. In today's global economy, the margin for policy mistakes is smaller, even for individual states."

• posted by John LaPlante
• 12:34 pm
• 0 comment