Speaker Madigan: House Democrats are fighting to provide for a #FairTaxNow to build an economy that works for the middle class, not millionaires and billionaires like Bruce Rauner and Donald Trump.
IPI so confident they’ve turned madigan into a ghoul they’ll post video of madigan promoting a progressive tax/attacking rauner knowing it’ll turn people off to the idea
Have you ever wondered what Governor Rauner does to relax and have fun?
Well here’s your chance to find out with our very first Brewskis with Bruce video!
Bruce loves catching up (and grabbing some beers) with folks around the state, listening to their concerns and just enjoying good conversation — whether about the issues facing Illinois or his love of ice skating. We’re excited to feature the first of these stops in a new series, Brewskis with Bruce!
Check out the video here
Enjoy!
Anthony Sarros
Political Director
P.S. Keep an eye out for YOUR CHANCE to participate in Brewskis with Bruce.
Gov. Bruce Rauner on Tuesday appeared to brush aside concerns from independent pharmacies whose owners say reduced reimbursements from the state’s expanded Medicaid managed-care program threaten to put them out of business.
“The reality is what we’re trying to do is drive more competition, and sometimes businesses can be competitive in costs, and some businesses can’t,” the Republican governor said at a Springfield event honoring Illinois small businesses.
Rauner was asked to respond to complaints about the managed-care reboot, HealthChoice Illinois, that have been made by owners of independent pharmacies, small-chain pharmacies and also small businesses selling outpatient medical equipment and supplies.
Those businesses say managed-care companies and companies operating as pharmacy benefit managers as part of the managed-care reboot are forcing pharmacies and durable-medical equipment providers to accept drastically lower rates for serving Medicaid patients since the reboot took effect earlier this year. […]
Rauner said that despite concerns expressed by small businesses adversely affected by HealthChoice Illinois, “My concern is to make sure we have high-quality health care provided to our residents who need it and deserve it, and that we drive real value for taxpayers.”
There is some dispute, however, over whether those reforms are actually driving costs down.
*** UPDATE *** Pritzker campaign…
Independent pharmacies and small businesses selling medical equipment are struggling to keep their doors open after reimbursement rates were slashed under Bruce Rauner’s Medicaid managed care overhaul, but Rauner couldn’t care less.
While attending an event to celebrate National Small Business Week, Rauner dismissed the small businesses’ concerns, stating “sometimes businesses can be competitive in costs, and some businesses can’t. It’s unfair to our taxpayers to subsidize businesses that are high-cost.” The Illinois Pharmacists Association responded to the SJ-R, “I think he basically wrote us off. He obviously doesn’t understand the mechanisms of how health care works in his administration.”
“Bruce Rauner dismissed pleas from small businesses struggling to keep their doors open during a National Small Business Week celebration,” said Pritzker campaign spokesman Jason Rubin. “This is staggering incompetence from a failed governor who is completely unaware of the damage he’s done across the state.”
* Meanwhile, on another Medicaid topic, here’s the Pritzker campaign…
After families and caseworkers testified about the systemic failures of Bruce Rauner’s new Medicaid enrollment system, the failed governor downplayed the situation at a press conference yesterday.
“Many folks aren’t used to doing the process the right way, so it’s causing a little bit of consternation,” Rauner said yesterday when asked if he was satisfied with his overhaul. The new system delayed applications and cut access to healthcare while over 175,000 Illinoisans were kicked off Medicaid in four months.
“Bruce Rauner and his agencies wipe their hands of responsibility while failing to provide the basic healthcare services that every Illinoisan deserves,” said Pritzker campaign spokeswoman Jordan Abudayyeh. “This is gross mismanagement from a failed governor unleashing needless pain on families across this state.”
REPORTER: Are you happy with the new way managed care is working? There was a hearing in Chicago yesterday. Apparently, your directors DHS and HFS didn’t show up. But people are saying they’re waiting in line for hours, eight hours sometimes. Disabled kids, their parents can’t get stuff because the new computer system put in under a new $300 million contract isn’t working right. Is it working right with Deloitte? Have mistakes been made, and what can you do get out of that bureaucratic, apparently, a mess?
RAUNER: So, we are implementing a new IT system that was first started in I believe 2013 is when the new systems got put into place. And that process is ongoing. New IT systems are complicated. It’s certainly not perfect, and I’m never satisfied. I always wanna do better and faster. The reality is we haven’t followed proper procedure in Illinois for years in terms of getting eligibility determined for folks receiving government benefits. Now there’s actually a rigorous process that actually needs to be done right, and many folks aren’t used to doing the process the right way, so it’s causing a little bit of consternation.
The governor went on to complain about how the budget that was passed over his veto “gutted” his IT program, which he says will save money in the long run.
I’ve seen the Pritzker campaign’s FOIA request and would suggest they amend it to include communications from the governor’s current chief legislative liaison Darlene Senger, the GOP comptroller candidate who sent an e-mail last night advising the administration to try to tie this Illinois Veterans’ Home scandal to US Sen. Tammy Duckworth.
* Well, WBEZ filed its own FOIA request after I posted that tidbit and four months later they finally received the documents…
Shortly after WBEZ published the original investigation on Dec. 12 of last year, one Democratic state lawmaker called for an audit examining the fatal Legionnaires’ outbreaks at the facility. The governor’s deputy chief of staff, Darlene Senger, floated a novel — if highly politicized — idea to shift blame for the deaths of the elderly Illinois Veterans Home residents.
“We can maybe tie this back to Duckworth,” Senger wrote in an email obtained through an open-records request. Democratic U.S. Sen. Tammy Duckworth, a disabled Iraq War veteran, ran the state agency that oversees the Quincy home under former Governors Pat Quinn and Rod Blagojevich.
Senger, of course, is now running for comptroller against incumbent Democrat Susana Mendoza. We can expect this to be a campaign issue.
Asked for comment on the email, Rauner spokeswoman Rachel Bold said “Our office has focused on the veterans at the Quincy Veterans Home and their health and safety. We are engaged in ongoing large-scale remediation efforts, while providing top quality skilled nursing care and planning for the future of the home and its residents.”
“There is no doubt that the lack of proper funding for veterans over the last decade has exacerbated the problems we currently face,” [Senger] said in a prepared statement. “If we choose to ignore the past, systemic failures to fund our veterans’ programs, then we are destined to continue to face these challenges in the future and that was the point of my comment — we need to understand how and when these problems started in order to find long-term solutions.” […]
“I’m shocked that anybody would be focused on political gain when you should be focused on veterans’ health. Bottom line,” Duckworth said in an interview. “This is the frustration that I have. Why are we wasting time on this kind of stuff instead of troubleshooting and what do we need to do to prevent another outbreak?”
The newly-published email attempting to blame combat Veteran and U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth for the Quincy Veterans’ Home crisis makes one thing clear: Bruce Rauner is willing to blame anyone but himself for his failures.
While stumbling through crisis after crisis, Rauner has repeatedly tried to evade responsibility, pointing fingers at state workers, his own employees, and countless others for his constant failure. With his history of ducking accountability, one question has to be asked: “Who does Bruce Rauner think is to blame for the Legionnaires crisis?”
“Bruce Rauner has a pathological refusal to take responsibility for his failures,” said Pritzker campaign communications director Galia Slayen. “After his administration tried to blame a war hero for the deaths of 13 Veterans and spouses, Rauner needs to be held accountable for his latest crisis.”
…Adding… DGA…
Senger’s email is the latest evidence of the Rauner administration’s effort to pass the buck on Quincy instead of addressing the crisis that killed 13 veterans. Just a few weeks ago, Rauner’s administration released a 35-page memo that, in part, tried blaming previous administrations for the deadly outbreak. Rauner’s team was also caught trying to shape press coverage while residents were dying, attacking journalists’ integrity, accusing home workers of lying, and stonewalling legislative inquiries.
“Bruce Rauner has reached a new low in his desperate attempt to deflect blame – now his administration is falsely attacking a combat veteran for their own mismanagement,” said DGA Illinois Communications Director Sam Salustro. “Rauner needs to show leadership and take responsibility for his administration’s failures at Quincy.”
