9 Comments - Carl Nyberg - Friday, Oct 26, 07 @ 8:16 am: The Peraica video link needs to be fixed. - Ghost - Friday, Oct 26, 07 @ 8:44 am: This school silenece law is going to cost the Sate more in legal expense then any benefit derived from it. What a monumental waste of time, all around - drafting it, passing it, implementing it, and all the complaining now that it exists. In the end it provides no benefit and just become another situs for the State to spend money it sorely needs elsewhere. - Cassandra - Friday, Oct 26, 07 @ 8:49 am: The Trib article on the Cook County Hospital system doesn’t go far enough in describing exactly which “poor” the hospital is serving. Since patients with Medicaid and Medicare can’t be considered “poor” with respect to medical care (but rather, rich) the article doesn’t address the question of who, exactly, the hospital is serving. This is important, because if the uninsured population the hospital is serving is largely illegals and out-of-county moochers, and a few patients with insurance who continue to go there out of habit, plus patients who want to cheap out on health insurance, taxpayers need to know how many there are in each category and what the cost is. It may be, for example, that other hospitals and clinics can pick up the patient population and the only reason the hospital is really needed is to pay lifetime salaries to those 7000 union employees. If that is the case, the hospital definitely needs to be shut down or sold, not put under another crew of politically connected managers. - Anon - Friday, Oct 26, 07 @ 9:35 am: how about putting the right Peraica video link - cermak_rd - Friday, Oct 26, 07 @ 11:34 am: Cassandra, I know 1 person who unlawfully receives care at Stroger? How many do you know? Now, how many patients a day are seen at Stroger? Stroger provides a real service to a lot of people. It provides an important safety net to the lower middle class who can’t afford insurance and also can’t afford high medical bills. Many of the poor have no idea how to sign up for Medicaid and so it provides care for them too. Yes, I’m sure our illegals get care there too. You’d rather they die in the streets or carry disease because they’re unfit for health care? Doesn’t strike me as the most responsible public health care choice in the world. Non-profit hospitals have largely decided they are for people with insurance or who can afford their bills. Should Stroger be reformed? Absolutely. Should it be done away with? Absolutely not! - Cassandra - Friday, Oct 26, 07 @ 12:28 pm: I don’t know that any Stroger patients are unlawful.The hospital does serve all comers, apparently, regardless of their ability to pay. And doesn’t charge them, regardless of their ability to pay. My point was that we need more information on who exactly the hospitals are serving and what other options those patients have. As to the Medicaid eligibles who can’t figure out the forms, my understanding is that the hospital will do that for them–or would, if they bothered to charge anybody for anything. Illegals are eligible for emergency care under federal law..is the hospital charging the feds for their care. Emegency care is very broadly defined. As to nonprofits…we should simply continue their tax-exempt status without insisting that the provide the charity care with such status entails. Looks like we taxpayers are paying double or more…paying to support Medicaid/Medicare, allowing nonprofits huge tax breaks, then paying again for Cook County’s health system without insisting that the hospital bill for what it can and that nonprofits earn their tax exemptions. - Captain America - Friday, Oct 26, 07 @ 1:29 pm: Ditto on the powerful Tribune editorial. Save Stroger hopsital from those unfit and unqaulified to oversee an $800 million dollar meical/health system. - Captain America - Friday, Oct 26, 07 @ 1:37 pm: Daley defnds the indefensible, thereby diminishing his personal credibility. This is one of those situations and instances of institutionalized corruption that is easy for people to understand. It should be an intersting case for Fitzgerald to investigate. but the evidnence of probable wrongdoing has y been destroyed or mispalced somehow. The Bridgeport gang/crew of political criminals is pretty careful. - Rob_N - Friday, Oct 26, 07 @ 4:09 pm: Paul links, “Press Release: Dan Seals ducks and dodges debates” Errr… no. The Footlik campaign is going to do itself no favors by infopimping such demonstrably false baloney. Seals already has agreed to two League of Women Voters sponsored debates with Jay Footlik, Jan. 10th and 12th. Plus, the debate Footlik is complaining that Seals “dodged” wasn’t with Footlik, it was with Kirk… last year, days before the election… and he didn’t dodge it, he disagreed to the format… Finally, the Footlik campaign may want to try to remember the names of the various local newspapers. What is the “Lake County Sun-Times”? While there is a “Sun-Times” in the area, the Lake County paper they referenced is actually the “Lake County News-Sun”. Sorry, comments for this post are now closed.