* There has been a lot of drama the past few days over the Senate democrats’ plan to sweep $530 million from special state funds. Part of this plan includes an expansion of health care programs.

In the Senate Executive Committee on Wednesday, where these amendments were introduced, I witnessed President Jones and Minority Leader Watson square off on a Crain’s article regarding the closing of St. Francis Hospital.

Watson contended that the main problem with St. Francis was the large number of Medicaid patients it had to accept, and that bringing the threshold of eligibility in the state up to $80,000 for a family of four would further exacerbate the problem.

Jones, whose district includes the hospital, countered that the main problem was really the losses the hospital sustains from having to treat patients with no health insurance at all.

Personally, I think the problem stems from a combination of the two. The democrats argued yesterday on the Senate floor that the state needs to step up to the plate and do something about health care since there is no leadership from the federal government.

True, but then there is this caveat to think about:

The company said a quarter of patients admitted to St. Francis either don’t have health insurance or are covered by Medicaid, and that it gets about 10 cents in Medicaid reimbursement from Illinois for each dollar it spends supplying medical care. Dixie Platt, a senior vice president with SSM, said Illinois’ reimbursement rates are the lowest of the four states that SSM operates in, and that the state’s reimbursement level hasn’t gone up since 1993.

Platt also said that the company hadn’t received a “significant” Medicaid payment from the state since October.

So if absurdly late Medicaid payments from the state to hospitals is further adding to the burden, then what difference would expanding Medicaid benefits really have if hospitals that accept them continue to close?

Additionally, this state is flat-out broke. Can we afford an expansion?

* The sad reality tough is that the entire debate doesn’t even matter. The whole trilogy of sweeps amendments passed by the Senate aren’t going anywhere. They’re D.O.A to the House as Rich has already lamented.

I wonder how much longer the constituents of this state are going to put up with the smoke and mirrors. What we currently have in our government is a three-ring-circus that is unresponsive to the dire and urgent needs of this state.

Whether it’s health care, a capital plan, education, or a myriad of other issues the theory holds that nothing is getting accomplished, and won’t.

It’s absolutely irresponsible to continue this charade. This bill is being passed to aggravate Speaker Madigan, and the recall bill in the House is being passed to scare Governor Blagojevich, knowing full well that it is in turn D.O.A. in the Senate. Enough.

Here is an idea? Stop passing legislation that won’t ever effect public policy, and start talking to each other. It would be refreshing for the citizens of Illinois, and might even get us all out of here before November.