64 Comments - Team Sleep - Friday, Apr 20, 07 @ 9:41 am: Arnold Schwarzenegger’s plan of a government-backed, single-payer system is the best option for Illinois. Why can’t Rod R. get on this bandwagon? There is nothing wrong with asking people to help pay some of the bill that will wind up sinking us further and further into indebted obligations. Raising taxes as much as he is proposing - or even an HB750 type of swap - is a polarizing issue that is being met with well-deserved scrutiny. It’s amazing how much our budget has ballooned in the past five years. Where are our hawks?! - Levois - Friday, Apr 20, 07 @ 9:43 am: This is why I visit the Capitol Fax to check out what’s being said about this proposal. Either positive or negative. Personally I’m not totally for a government run health insurance program. I can agree there needs to be a debate that is beneficial to those who are uninsured. It’s unfortunate that the GRT plan hampers that. - Yellow Dog Democrat - Friday, Apr 20, 07 @ 9:47 am: 1. The health care crisis is not new, and everybody knows it exists. There’s now news in it, and that’s why reporters aren’t talking about it. 2. Someone, please tell me, how many stories did Dick Kay do on the health care crisis while he was a reporter? I only remember him covering political intrigue, exactly what his former colleagues are covering now. 3. “In my 38 years of reporting for NBC 5 Chicago…I also was considered objective. Now that I am a special health care advocate for Gov. Rod Blagojevich…” Hilarious. Get the point Dick? You were considered objective (I would say independent, which isn’t quite the same thing). Now you’re one of those shills you always complained about. Stop lecturing your former colleagues, before Bernie does a story on the size of your contract. Very interesting that the Gov is now saying he’ll keep us in all summer to pass his $2 billion health care plan now, but not the GRT. - Number 8 - Friday, Apr 20, 07 @ 9:51 am: I agree with Dick. Every national poll I see regarding issues important to everyday people, health care always ranks number 1. If this is true, how can the media so easily ignore it, and still consider themselves to be objective reporters of news? - VanillaMan - Friday, Apr 20, 07 @ 9:59 am: Blagojevich wants us to focus on his goody bag, not how it it paid for. This is because he is a politician - and a good one. Like all salespersonnel, Blagojevich wants us to covet an easy solution - his solution - on a difficult challenge. His bus trips, his TV ads, his news puppeteer Dick Kay, all want us to ignor reality and dream about free health care for all. These people sell us dreams then stick it to us as they walk away. For Blagojevich, he wants us to get stick with a fiscal disaster that requires his GRT to bail us out. Reality sucks. I want a big house. I want a luxury car. I want more kids. Thankfully I don’t try to accomplish these wants by taking out credit I can’t pay back, robbing banks, or justifying other means that hurt others. Blagojevich and Kay want us to buy into their dream and ignor the disaster their plans will create for generations. They want us to focus on that needy kid, that elderly soul, and other ripe TV fodder that guilts us away from reality. When you are broke, you have no money. When you are broke and use up all your credit, hock your assets, steal from pensions, and then jusfity a GRT bailout by pointing to a crying infant, you are Rod Blagojevich - politico extraordinaire and gubernatorial stupido. - Tea Leaves - Friday, Apr 20, 07 @ 10:11 am: Rich, You forgot one very important issue besides hell or high water and that’s indictments. Then the ball gets pasted to Quinn….. - Ghost - Friday, Apr 20, 07 @ 10:17 am: Discussing the needs of people for the medical care as part of the GRT coverage contains a syylogistic flaw, it requires an untrue assumption. The implied assumption is that health care reform requires a GRT to fund it. The entire debate on this point has been antecdotal tales of middle class families and low income families left without coverage. Let me toss out some simpler ideas to close this gap without need for a GRT. Mmany “families” are left without coverage because of the definition of family in the policies. For example, the college kids or gradutes who are not family once they leave home. Parents who are not family etc. Lets pass a law that lets a household with coverage seek to extend coverage to parents, kids and siblings for an increased premium. Also let same sex couples be eligible under family coverage of their partner. That said I think the Governors biggest mistake/hurdle was to label and pursue this funding source as a gross receipts tax. While a bit of a simplification, this is really a sales tax. Resellers currently do not pay sales tax when they make purchase. What this seeks to do is have resellers pay sales tax on their purchases. This whole debate about discounting cost of good sold etc before being taxed somewhat misdirects. When I make purchase I pay a sales tax regardless of the cost of the various goods I have purchased. Realistically this is a sales tax on resellers for a smaller percentage. The real question is should there be a law that prohibits or limits the ability of the reseller to pass this tax on to the end user. - Bill - Friday, Apr 20, 07 @ 10:24 am: Yellow lapdog democrat, If anyone is a “shill” it is you. Kay has a good point. Big business, as usual, has the money to push their point of view, while the average working citizen sturggles to pay for over priced health insurance or is forced to do without. Why ins’t there more coverage about people who die too young because they put off a visit to their doctor until it was too late because thay couldn’t afford it? Why isn’t there more coverage about the billions of dollars the citizens of Illinois are forced to pay because of the cost of caring for the uninsured? This goes beyond your usual petty partisianship. This is a moral issue. We should all have access to the same health insurance that you and the Speaker enjoy regardless of our income. I have faith that the governor will not cave in to the special interest groups. We will be here for as long as it takes to get this done.If we don’t come out of this session with some sort of health insurance covcerage for middle and low income adults in Illinois it will be the fault of the Legislature and mouthpieces like you, not of the governor. - Rich Miller - Friday, Apr 20, 07 @ 10:24 am: ===Stop lecturing your former colleagues, before Bernie does a story on the size of your contract.=== Please. $50 an hour is hardly a huge consulting contract. YDD, you are undercharging if you think that’s a lot of Statehouse cash. “Tea Leaves,” you can’t plan on an indictment or even predict when one will come down. If it happens, it happens, but a game plan should not be formulated based on the hope that it will happen before the session ends. And if it does happen, I doubt he’ll resign. He’s not built that way. Anything can happen, but you can’t talk as if this is a sure bet. - Tea Leaves - Friday, Apr 20, 07 @ 10:49 am: Why is Bill permitted to call fellow bloggers names? - What's in a name? - Friday, Apr 20, 07 @ 10:53 am: Isn’t the nature of being a reporter that you find stuff out and then tell us? It seems since the bus trip Rich has a much more benevolent tilt towards the Gov. Based on Rich’s writings here and elsewhere I have come to believe he is a reasonable, well adjusted person. This leads me to believe something happened on the bus that caused Rich to change his mind or at least soften the negative opinion of this Gov. Was something said in the “off the record” discussions? As the old saying goes, “Inquiring minds want to know.” The bottom line is we have a State Government without out adequate funding. Everyone new this before the election and everyone knows it now. This gov ran a campaign based on not raising taxes. For him to suggest that he meant he would not raise sales or income taxes is now merely an argument of convenience. Absent the campaign pledge, is there any doubt there would be no talk of the GRT. We need an adult leader to step up and articulate a reasonable increase in the income tax, combined with closing some corporate loop holes. The income tax can be made progressive, can be adjusted from time to time. There is already a collection infrastructure in place. It just makes sense. Mike Madigan be our hero. Please. - Cassandra - Friday, Apr 20, 07 @ 10:53 am: Now that everybody is focused on the big battle between tax swap and GRT, we aren’t hearing a lot of discussion of how the 7-10 billion or so Illinois already pays out for health care–Medicaid, state employees, state employee retirees, Allkids, and so on, could be better managed so as to minimize the amount of additional revenues need from either tax. And that’s unfortunate, because those billions could be managed a lot better. Managed care. State employees picking up more of the cost. Less asset shifting by older affluent citizens to avoid paying for end of life nursing home care, and so on.If the GRT or tax swap showers huge sums of money on our state government leaders, they will continue to feel little pressure to better manage the money that they are getting already. And we’ll be paying more than we need to for universal health coverage, which is inevitable and right but should not cost us overtaxed Illinois citizens more than necessary. - Rich Miller - Friday, Apr 20, 07 @ 10:53 am: “Tea Leaves” considering all the names Bill has been called here I tend to cut him a bit more slack. But point taken. Bill, lighten up a little, please. It’s Friday. - Bakersfield - Friday, Apr 20, 07 @ 10:54 am: What a fraud. First off, Kay was part of the problem for decades, but now that he is gone he finally discovers that the media isn’t always balanced. What a shock. Second, if he’s so upset with the coverage, um, shouldnt he do something to get their message out there and on tv. Isn’t that really his job? This guy stunk at his old job and he stinks at his new one, apparently. - Bill - Friday, Apr 20, 07 @ 11:01 am: OK, Rich, you are the blogboss but it was YLD who first called Dick a shill. He also likes to call bloggers who don’t agree with him ignorant, stupid, etc.. I was just giving him a dose of his own Alpo. - Greg - Friday, Apr 20, 07 @ 11:03 am: What debate over health care? I don’t see anyone debating too much. Everything is revolving around the GRT. I’d be more than happy to debate Dick Kay on the need for the Governor’s plan. 85% of the population all ready has health care coverage. With seniors — who most need it — the figure is 95% plus. Why does the Governor feel the need to meddle with the 11 million people in Illinois with coverage to address the 1.4 million without? Hell, I would challenge the assumption that health care coverage has to be universal. Does Rush Limb augh or Michael Jordan need health coverage? The super rich can self insure. Should a 23 yr. old college graduate take an internship that could make his career or simply take the first job that comes along with health care? Even the Governor admitted to Rich that constituents aren’t beating down legislative doors for health care. So yeah, let’s have the debate. - Team Sleep - Friday, Apr 20, 07 @ 11:05 am: Yes, YDD, it will be YOUR fault that unicare or whatever it is didn’t pass! Bill, read my above post. Isn’t it also a moral issue to keep people responsible for their actions and/or irresponsibilities? I have no problem providing care for children, the disabled or the elderly, but I find it tough to swallow a program that provides free care for people who can cough up some money each month to cover the cost of the premium(s), the visits and the meds. If you talk to insurance agents and medical professionals, a decent percentage of the uninsured are young twentysomethings who think they are invincible and would rather have a nicer car or more money their weekend barhopping. It’s tough to feel sympathy for them. I can remember when I started my job that some of my friends - most of whom are college-educated and professional - were surprised that I paid a monthly premium. I would rather have coughed up the $75 a month than have (still) unpaid doctor’s bills. - Team Sleep - Friday, Apr 20, 07 @ 11:09 am: Cassandra and Greg, good points. When you look at all of the programs that are now available - and you must include the new 800 pound gorilla, Medicare Part D - the myriad of options is mind-boggling without Coveralls. When Medicaid is not reimbursing providers and pharmacies for their obligation now, how is the state supposed to make Coveralls work later? It is a logistical nightmare. - So Ill - Friday, Apr 20, 07 @ 11:10 am: I think YDD’s best point is that the ‘health care crisis’ is not NEW. We know that people have problems getting health care, don’t we? They had problems getting health care before the initiatives the Governor put into place in his first term. They had problems getting health care when insurance premiums went through the roof, and doctors left the state in droves. They had problems getting health care when the state decided to stop paying its medicaid reimbursements. They still have problems getting health care. There’s nothing NEW here. Moreover, I don’t think the number of stories is down abundantly. I DO, however, believe that the response to Dick Kay’s tour was relatively lukewarm, and that is what’s caused him to speak out. I was at one of his stops. It was 7 media members watching Dick Kay interview a couple. That’s not news, no matter how much the Governor’s Office wants it to be. - Bill - Friday, Apr 20, 07 @ 11:16 am: Team Sleep, IllinoisCovered is not necessarily “free”. Premiums would charged based on subscribers ability to pay. It would not be mandatory. Take a little time to check out the truth instead of relying on the “sky is falling” rhetoric being spewed forth by greedy corporations. - Tea Leaves - Friday, Apr 20, 07 @ 11:39 am: Bill Where can we find the truth (specifics) of this proposed tax? - steve schnorf - Friday, Apr 20, 07 @ 11:53 am: Rich, with all due respect to you and the Governor, the two issues aren’t one and the same. The Governor has chosen to link the two when it is convenient, which is good strategy. There are unmet health care needs, some pretty hard to ignore. The State also needs more revenue, a point I consider beyond debate, regardless of the thoughts of many here. The State would need more revenue whether we expand the availability of health care or not. So, in my mind you have two separate issues. One, how should we best raise additional revenue for the State? Two, what if anything should we do about the costs of making health care more readily available for certain people in the State. I personally think the linkage is unfortunate. Right now, you it’s hard to be for expanded health care without being for the GRT, and hard to be against the GRT without being against expanded health care (though Whitley seemed to do a decent job the other day). There are a lot of nuances here that don’t appear to even begin to be addressed. Let me give you a simple one. Much, though far from all, of the care that would be covered under the health care proposal, is already provided, especially by hospitals, but it is provided as uncompensated care, in some cases charity care. How will the fact that hospitals would now be paid for much of that care affect them and the AG’s concern that inadequate amounts of charity care are currently provided by many non-profit hospitals? Ah, unintended consequences, they’re everywhere. - Rich Miller - Friday, Apr 20, 07 @ 11:59 am: Steve, I never said they were one and the same. I said that the health insurance angle was being overwhelmed by the GRT stories. - Bill - Friday, Apr 20, 07 @ 12:03 pm: Tea Leaves, Read SB5. Here is a short summary: In his budget address, the governor proposed the creation of Illinois Covered – a plan that will ensure that all 1.4 million uninsured Illinoisians have access to quality, affordable healthcare, and that will help many middle-income families and small businesses that are currently enrolled in health insurance plans save thousands a year on healthcare costs. The plan will also reform the existing healthcare system to improve quality and require more accountability. The primary components of the Illinois Covered plan include: * Illinois Covered Choice: Creates a new, affordable comprehensive insurance plan that anyone without employer-sponsored health insurance in Illinois can purchase. This statewide pool of coverage will offer Illinoisans lower and stable rates. Business groups will be able to connect many of their members with this new affordable insurance, and small business owners can also purchase this product on behalf of their employees. * Illinois Covered Rebate: Lowers premiums for moderate to middle-income Illinoisans ($20,000-$80,000 for a family of four) to help them afford their health insurance. The rebate will vary based on income, and those with lower incomes would get a larger rebate. * Illinois Covered Assist: Similar to FamilyCare and Medicaid, individuals or couples who are very low-income will now have access to full coverage through the state (individuals currently making less than $10,210 annually, and couples making less than $13,690). Sorry for taking up all this space ,Rich, but how can people be against something that they haven’t even read. - Pat Hickey - Friday, Apr 20, 07 @ 12:13 pm: Bill, The Guv is out in front on a good one with this - health care is # 1. That is why every worth while Labor contract negotiation fights for health and welfare rights. Taking care of the poor and the elderly in matters of health towers over any educational boondoggle that strangles the economy. Health Care providers and the insurance companies need their piggies held to the coals on this one. Then the Utilities. Sic ‘em, Bill! Use the motor-oil soaked 2X4 on ‘em as well. - Slice & Dice - Friday, Apr 20, 07 @ 12:14 pm: Great debate here. A lot of good points being made. Dick Kay is irrelevant to the issue of adequate health care and good policy. What is at issue is the Gov’s proposal to acheive his stated goal. First he’s blown his credibility to hell with many people, especially the law-makers whose votes he needs. If you talk with them they are not hearing from “big corporate” interests on this. It’s the thousands of their constituents in their dicstricts who are calling and writing. The blogger who claims it’s the “special interest groups” who are behind the fight against the GRT and the 3% payroll tax is off just a little. I think you’ll find it’s select “special interest groups” who have been promised a piece of the pie who have been funding his media campaign. That is, what’s not being paid for by taxpayers though his use of state employees, phones, mail and computers to push this legislation. There is no doubt the health care system is messed up and not working. The Governor’s approach to fixing it is terribly flawed. He does not govern, he campaigns. He does not bring together, he attempts to divide and conquer. Health care access needs to be fixed but not this way. - Tea Leaves - Friday, Apr 20, 07 @ 12:21 pm: Is there a website spelling out the specifics (all the specifics)? If this tax is debated or passes, will the website keep everyone up to date as to all the nuances of the GRT? Not we don’t trust you Bill, but we don’t. - Rich Miller - Friday, Apr 20, 07 @ 12:23 pm: “Tea Leaves,” why not just read the bill? - Tea Leaves - Friday, Apr 20, 07 @ 12:26 pm: Give me a little help here Rich. Where can I find it? - Bill - Friday, Apr 20, 07 @ 12:28 pm: Tea leaves, Go to ilga.gov. Use the bill finder. SB1 is the tax fairness plan. SB2 is school construction SB5 is Illinois covered SB1090 Roads SB1132 Ed Appropriatiuons I am sorry that you don’t trust me. I don’t understand why. This site is controlled by the GA. As much as I have tried to influence it, they are pretty immune to us “special interest groups”i.e. working taxpayers of Illinois. - leigh - Friday, Apr 20, 07 @ 12:36 pm: As some my note, I am against the GRT, however I am fully ready to admit that the media coverage is completely out of balance on this and I would like to know why. As far as not covering much on the healthcare issue, in fairness to the media, it should be noted that this governor has often touted great socialist programs that go nowhere. Perhaps they are taking a wait and see approach? - Hard Working Taxpayer - Friday, Apr 20, 07 @ 12:37 pm: Has anyone seen HB1959 that passed the House last night? Interesting. - Bill - Friday, Apr 20, 07 @ 12:50 pm: leigh, What “great socialist programs” went nowhere? - Tea Leaves - Friday, Apr 20, 07 @ 12:56 pm: Bill, with all due respect, I went ilga.gov plugged in SB5/Illinois covered went to Full Text, Votes, View, All Actions it really didn’t say anything. Am I missing something or is this by design to confuse and frustrate. - where are the details - Friday, Apr 20, 07 @ 12:58 pm: Bill, I’ve read SB5 and it gives HFS immense latitude to establish coverage programs by administrative rule. It’s incredibly sparse on detail and almost every program provision is followed by a provision that allows HFS to override the statutory requirements if there are budgetary reasons to do so. Let’s see some more specifics and then let’s debate from there. - Bill - Friday, Apr 20, 07 @ 1:03 pm: Tea, The bill is 152 pages long. Rich would ban me if posted it here. On the full text page, click on Senate ammendment 001. I hope that after all this you will contact your legislator and ask them to support the Governor’s tax fairness plan and Illinois Covered. The Repubs have been out a lot longer than 20 min. - Bill - Friday, Apr 20, 07 @ 1:06 pm: Where, All bills look like this. The “rules” most likely would be subject to lagislative oversight through JACR. Everyone is skeptical and distrusting today! Do you really think Rod would try to pull a fast one? - Bruno - Friday, Apr 20, 07 @ 1:08 pm: God forbid, a bill (SB5/Illinois covered) with such dramatic implications be presented clearly or for that matter in plain english. The General Assembly treats everyone as if they are idiots. Don’t worry, a chosen few will make the important decisions for all. Nothing ever changes! - Tea Leaves - Friday, Apr 20, 07 @ 1:10 pm: YES! - Pat Hickey - Friday, Apr 20, 07 @ 1:14 pm: I thought Bill did just that about ten whines up, Bruno. How’s this? Illinois Covered Choice: Creates a new, affordable comprehensive insurance plan that anyone without employer-sponsored health insurance in Illinois can purchase. This statewide pool of coverage will offer Illinoisans lower and stable rates. Business groups will be able to connect many of their members with this new affordable insurance, and small business owners can also purchase this product on behalf of their employees. * Illinois Covered Rebate: Lowers premiums for moderate to middle-income Illinoisans ($20,000-$80,000 for a family of four) to help them afford their health insurance. The rebate will vary based on income, and those with lower incomes would get a larger rebate. * Illinois Covered Assist: Similar to FamilyCare and Medicaid, individuals or couples who are very low-income will now have access to full coverage through the state (individuals currently making less than $10,210 annually, and couples making less than $13,690). Sorry for taking up all this space ,Rich, but how can people be against something that they haven’t even read. What’s to squeak about/ Makes sense to this NHS reject. - where are the details - Friday, Apr 20, 07 @ 1:20 pm: Bill, Admin rules usually allow department’s to specify how they will adminisister programs, it shouldn’t give bureaucrats discretion to override stautes. Do I think Rod would pull a fast one? I’ll assume that’s sarcasm. - Tea Leaves - Friday, Apr 20, 07 @ 1:29 pm: Bill & Pat Then just print the(entire)152 page bill in the Chicago Tribune, Sun-Times or any other newspapers who would care to carry it. Let’s get it out there in plain sight for all to read and decide what’s best. Let’s make real easy for a change. - Rich Miller - Friday, Apr 20, 07 @ 1:39 pm: “Tea Leaves,” that argument is bogus. It’s on the Internet and freely available, for crying out loud. - Tea Leaves - Friday, Apr 20, 07 @ 1:44 pm: What about the people who don’t have computers, or internet access. Those will be the people affected the most. I’m pretty sure the individuals or couples who are very low-income can’t even afford a computer. - Doodles - Friday, Apr 20, 07 @ 1:52 pm: One infrequently discussed aspect of the healthcare debate is uncontrolled, increasing greater than inflation healthcare costs. By subsidizing health insurance, will the State simply be buying into a spiraling out-of-control entitlement, like Medicare and Medicaid, that will grow from $2 billion next year to $3 billion the following year, then $4 billion, and so on? Universal converage is a nice idea, but there’s more to it than covering everyone. There’s also bringing healthcare costs under control. - Slice & Dice - Friday, Apr 20, 07 @ 1:52 pm: Back for a moment to the original point - coverage of the tax plan. Would you agree that the press responds to what’s newsworthy at any given time? The Governor and his bus tour got coverage but the press looked for the other side of the story and it was there. The tax plan has generated more outrage from average tax payers than anything else in recent memory. Why would the press not cover it thoroughly? - Elegius - Friday, Apr 20, 07 @ 2:01 pm: Can Slice & Dice (or anyone else) please be a little more specific as to what would constitute an acceptable solution to the health care crisis? I hear “we need to do something, but Illinois Covered isn’t it” all the time. Fine, but I haven’t seen a viable alternative offered by anyone else. If you one in mind, please stop hiding your light under a bushel and let us know about it! - Team Sleep - Friday, Apr 20, 07 @ 2:04 pm: Ability to pay is subjective, Bill. If an agency is ordered to dole out coverage, caseworkers and ultimately the agency heads can take marching orders from above to wave such fees. Requiring premiums for people other than the disabled and elderly should be mandatory. I don’t think that is heartless, either. Of course, provisions could be made for people who are laid off, injured on the job or elsewhere and/or experienced problems with family (such as the loss of a home or medical emergencies for children). But it is tough to support a basically free system that would be for now support by a massive tax increase. I also don’t get the shill for big corporations stereotype. I’m worried more so about the taxpayers who continue to see less and less of their tax dollars go towards programs and agencies that can help them. I think Pat Quinn’s original idea to increase the income tax for persons who make over $250,000 would be a good idea. Indiana did that under a Republican governor and it increased revenue without creating the big stink of the GRT. - Porky - Friday, Apr 20, 07 @ 2:05 pm: Have the hospitals, doctors, insurance companies weighed in on this GRT. Haven’t seen one story about their take. - Papa Legba - Friday, Apr 20, 07 @ 2:13 pm: Why all the whining and hollering? By the time the legislature gets done “tweaking” SB5, it will have been changed so much it won’t even look or propose the same things as it does now. - Cassandra - Friday, Apr 20, 07 @ 2:56 pm: Those who keep talking about the poor and the elderly lacking health insurance need to remember that the poor and the elderly already have Medicaid and Medicare—that is, they already have insurance, and it is free if they are poor. They can’t be denied coverage for pre-existing conditions, etc. These groups are taken care of. The goal is to insure at affordable rates working and middle class adults under 65. Kids are already covered through Allkids. Talking about Illinois Covered being for the poor and elderly is incorrect and prevents citizens from understanding precisely what they are being asked to fund here. It’s not affordable health insurance for children, the poor, or the elderly. We’ve taken care of that…decades ago, for most. - Tea Leaves - Friday, Apr 20, 07 @ 2:56 pm: That’s right Papa Nothing is as it seems…. - steven - Friday, Apr 20, 07 @ 3:08 pm: Tea Leaves - Looks like nobody pointed you to the Web site that actually has all the info: www.investinginfamilies.com It has all the info on the Tax, healthcare, and education pieces. - Pat Hickey - Friday, Apr 20, 07 @ 3:45 pm: Pat Hickey - Friday, Apr 20, 07 @ 1:19 pm: Dick Kay NEEDS to keep his trap shut. That is one of the biggest needs in Illinois. Pat Hickey - Friday, Apr 20, 07 @ 1:19 pm: Dick Kay NEEDS to keep his trap shut. That is one of the biggest needs in Illinois. - Pat Hickey - Friday, Apr 20, 07 @ 1:19 pm: Dick Kay NEEDS to keep his trap shut. That is one of the biggest needs in Illinois. That is not my post - - Dick Kay - Friday, Apr 20, 07 @ 3:55 pm: I suggest those who are interested go to the website: Illinoiscovered.com What a great debate on this blog and most of you are talking about finding ways for Illinosians to get access to affordable health care. Gee…I wonder if this debate would be happening if I had “kept my trap shut.” For information purposes Illinois Covered is not about the poor, disabled, or seniors. And 1.4-million is just the number of uninsured; most of those folks are hard working individuals or families. There are 9.6 million whose premiums or deductibles are so high doctor visits are out of the question. Medical bills are the 6th leading cause of personal bankruptcy. And those of us who have health insurance pay a hidden tax of more than 1-thousand dollars in premium costs to compensate for those who have no coverage. As for my salary..I have a contract for 6 months not a year…and I PAY INCOME TAXES ON IT. - Slice & Dice - Friday, Apr 20, 07 @ 4:02 pm: Elegius, There are a number of pieces legislation that heve been introduced over the last several years to create inexpensive, accessible health care products for the Illinois market. Only to defeated by legislative leadership controlled by the interest groups that insist every mandate (including things such as invitro-fertilization)must be a part of every health plan. They are not the sole culprits of course….the insurance lobby is strong as are the medical folks. No one wants their ox to get gored. But that said, the Gov’s $8 billion tax hike ain’t the answer. And my point way earlier was that he needed to bring togther all the parties who have a stake and broker a solution. But Nooo, his ego and greed got in the way. - Tea Leaves - Friday, Apr 20, 07 @ 4:04 pm: Finally Thanks Steve - Gene Parmesan - Friday, Apr 20, 07 @ 4:05 pm: I wonder if Ron Santo will be visiting the blog next. - Slice & Dice - Friday, Apr 20, 07 @ 4:07 pm: One more tidbit, if the State would move all medicade recipients to “mananged care” as most everyone on any insurance plan is and nearly every other state hase done, it’s estimated they could save $1 billion annually starting now. Let’s see, how far could that go is meeting the Gov’s Illinois Covered plan…..halfway maybe? - steven - Friday, Apr 20, 07 @ 4:29 pm: Actually - all medicaid is already being moved over to Primary Care Case Management: http://www.hfs.illinois.gov/managedcare/ I am just the master of links today! - Papa Legba - Friday, Apr 20, 07 @ 5:01 pm: investinginfamilies.com? What? Are we supposed to believe the drivel that Blago’s hacks put on a web site? Haven’t we learned yet the man is full of it? - steve schnorf - Friday, Apr 20, 07 @ 5:05 pm: Dick, if I read your post correctly, you are saying 11 million Illinoisans (approximately 90% of the population) either don’t have health care coverage or can’t afford to go to the doctor? Is that what you meant? It’s a brand new number to me. BTW, good for you for paying taxes. - steve schnorf - Friday, Apr 20, 07 @ 5:26 pm: Sorry for back to back posts, but I was sitting here idly thinking, “I believe in expanded health care coverage, but that doesn’t necessarily mean I support the Governor’s plan, and I believe the State needs more revenue, but that doesn’t necessarily mean I support the Governor’s GRT.” That led me to the logical next thought; “Then what do I support?” And it hit me like a ton of bricks. Where are the competing proposals? Do the opponents of these two measures believe they address non-existent problems? The State doesn’t need any more revenue? There is no real problem in Illinois for the uninsured? I suppose you could believe that; to paraphrase the Queen, if you try hard you can believe unbelieveable things before breakfast. But the opponents don’t seem to be arguing that. One important business group has endorsed additional revenue for the State. I remember my past arguments with my R friends over 750. They would say it’s not a good bill. I would say “it’s the best one out there. I’m sure I wiould like the Republican proposal better, BUT THERE ISN’T ONE.” Why are we letting these opponents off the hook. I would completely disregard their opposition until they either tell me that there is no problem needing to be solved, or here is our alternative proposal. What is the Chamber’s proposal on these issues? What is the Manufacturer’s, what is the Retail Merchants? We’re letting them get away with something most of us detest; the intellectual dishonesty of not offering better ideas if they don’t like the the ones on the table. - Disgusted - Friday, Apr 20, 07 @ 11:03 pm: The governor is so schizophrenic on his healthcare proposals that it boggles the mind and raids state agency funds also. If he was so interested in healthcare for all, why wasn’t it proposed 5 years ago? Instead we got the following: KidCare became All Kids, with all the costs of changeover; then we got Moms & Babies, Senior Care, Vet Care, Healthy Women - all of which had huge start-up and ongoing costs for production, and staff. Now, does pushing Illinois Covered mean that, yet again, it will cost millions in start-up costs, staff, reprinting all forms, flyers and brochures associated with all these programs, finding office space, new furniture, yadda, yadda, yadda? The governor raided agency budgets to get all these separate health coverage programs up and running, some of them just in time, coincidentally, to plaster his name all over it in time for his re-election campaign, and now agencies will be expected to do all this change over again AND pay for it again! And you call this governing??? Sorry, comments for this post are now closed.