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*** UPDATED x1 *** “There is absolutely no truth to these baffling claims from lawmakers in Region 4″

Wednesday, Sep 23, 2020 - Posted by Rich Miller

State Sen. Paul Schimpf, R-Waterloo, said he doesn’t think the testing data has been complete in Region 4 because it doesn’t include the negative results from Illinois residents who use a hospital system in the St. Louis area. He said the mitigations keeping bars and restaurants from allowing dine-in service is “destroying livelihoods.”

“Gov. Pritzker needs to show some leadership and immediately cancel these mitigation measures that he had put in place based on the region’s positivity rate because that positivity rate number is not accurate; I have no confidence in it whatsoever,” Schimpf said. […]

“To me, it’s extremely frustrating that they did this, and I don’t think it was anywhere close to accurate at all,” Schimpf said.

* Press release…

Significant issues with the state’s COVID-19 reporting and tracking methods are likely affecting the accuracy of the published positivity rate for the Metro East region, prompting State Senators Paul Schimpf (R-Waterloo) and Jason Plummer (R-Edwardsville) to call on Governor Pritzker to immediately remove the increased restrictions on IDPH Region 4.

“As more and more facts call into question the accuracy of the positivity rate for Region 4, I find it unconscionable that the State of Illinois is shutting down businesses and destroying livelihoods based on a metric that is clearly neither meaningful nor accurate,” said State Senator Paul Schimpf (R-Waterloo). “Governor Pritzker needs to immediately lift the mitigation measures he imposed on our region several weeks ago.”

Schimpf and Plummer noted several issues with the state’s data reporting and collection methodology, which could be creating an inaccurate and inflated rate for the region. They noted that IDPH Director Dr. Ngozi Ezike confirmed that until recently, Illinois was not including data from some of the largest hospitals and healthcare facilities in the region. One of those networks, BJC HealthCare, provides healthcare to 30% of Metro East residents at several hospitals and clinics in Missouri and Illinois.

“This is a crisis impacting everyone so the lack of transparency and zero accountability from this administration must end,” said State Senator Jason Plummer. “It is shockingly callous for Governor Pritzker and his allies to knowingly use faulty data to implement arbitrary rules that have destroyed economic opportunity for many Illinoisans. Our priority should be to protect the most vulnerable, but this administration is exacerbating the crisis by creating economic hardship and additional health issues for many desperate families.”

Because many Metro East residents utilize Missouri hospitals for medical care and COVID-19 testing services, only including positive test results from those providers would dramatically increase the reported positivity rate for the region.

The Senators also pointed to issues with data collection state-wide, such as individuals being counted multiple times and individuals in state facilities, such as prisons, who do not mingle in the general population being counted. Additionally, according to health officials, some private labs may be submitting only positive results because those are the only results that they are required to release.

* And…

So, are @JBPritzker and @IDPH committing denominator fraud with testing numbers? If so, this is criminal.

— Senator Jason Plummer (@JasonPlummerUSA) September 23, 2020

I’ve been watching these two for a few days now, but I wanted to wait to see what I could get out of the administration before pulling the trigger.

* Jordan Abudayyeh…

IDPH uses an electronic reporting system for labs to report all of their results including negative and positive tests. The majority of clinical labs within the state of Illinois are using this system; while new labs or non-traditional providers are required to immediately begin reporting manually, IDPH works collaboratively to include these labs in the electronic reporting system as soon as possible. Out-of-state labs are also included in IDPH’s network when they cooperatively provide results for Illinoisans.

There is absolutely no truth to these baffling claims from lawmakers in Region 4. There are no situations where the state takes just the positives from a testing entity and includes that in a region’s positivity rate. Any situation where data gets included in the positivity rate requires a full data set of both positive and negative results to be provided electronically to IDPH. For those labs who are not yet a part of the electronic reporting system, their results are communicated to IDPH through a manual survey tool and are not included in the positivity rates for regions. Because the state has worked to include a robust network of labs in our electronic reporting system, the number of positives reported to the state via the manual survey tool is relatively small and diminishing. In the case of Region 4 these manually reported results would have a negligible effect on the region’s positivity rate, even if they were included in the positivity calculation, which they are not.

As for the other claims these lawmakers make about congregate facilities in the region, the medical experts have repeatedly said they are included in totals because there are members of community that work at these facilities who then go out into the community. These facilities are a part of the community and can contribute to community spread. It’s important to note that congregate facilities are not unique to region 4. There are congregate facilities in every region of Illinois and other regions have managed to keep their positivity rates below warning level.

Instead of peddling conspiracy theories that undermine the health and safety of Illinoisans, lawmakers should be sharing the messages backed by medical experts that are proven to reduce positivity rates: wear a mask, wash your hands and watch your distance.

…Adding… This apparently started with an erroneous claim by a local public health official…

Some Madison County Board members are questioning the COVID-19 positivity rate used by Gov. J.B. Pritzker to impose stricter mitigation rules for Region 4 after Health Department Administrator Toni Corona said during the Health Department Committee meeting that private labs are not required to report negative tests.

Oy. Not true, people. Not to mention that the region’s positivity rate is going down.

…Adding… Sen. Schimpf is fundraising off of this with some flat-out false claims…

I really try to reduce the toxicity in politics. We have to disagree without being disagreeable. But right now, I am so mad at Governor Pritzker that I would have difficulty keeping my temper in check when speaking with him.

This week the Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) revealed that when calculating the Region 4 (Randolph, Monroe, St. Clair, Madison, Clinton, Bond, and Washington Counties) positivity rate, they HAD NOT been including data from the BJC Healthcare network.

The BJC Network provides healthcare for 30% of the residents of the Metro East and administers thousands of COVID-19 tests. BJC officials indicated to me that they had submitted only their POSITIVE test results to IDPH. This means that our data wasn’t simply incomplete–it was incorrect!

You can read initial media coverage of this development here.

Instead of taking corrective action and reopening Region 4 immediately, this morning Governor Pritzker still maintained that his mitigation sanctions should remain in place, stating he was “rooting for the Metro East.”

No, Governor, you are not. If you were rooting for us, you’d admit that your administration made an incomprehensibly stupid mistake. Own it and take corrective action immediately to allow our businesses to reopen.

If you want to help me spread the word that Governor Pritzker’s positivity rate is not accurate, you can donate here.

I will immediately roll your donation into Facebook advertising to spread the news of this travesty.

Thanks for reading and S/F,

Paul

Paul Schimpf

You know, perhaps if he’d just picked up the phone and called IDPH, he could’ve cleared this up. Instead, he’s basically joined up with the Eastern Bloc.

*** UPDATE *** BND…

State senators Paul Schimpf, R-Waterloo, and Jason Plummer, R-Edwardsville, said in a news release Tuesday that “Illinois was not including data from some of the largest hospitals and healthcare facilities in the region,” including BJC HealthCare. The St. Louis-based company operates two hospitals and multiple health-care centers in the metro-east.

BJC spokeswoman Laura High says BJC has worked diligently “to comply with all reporting requests concerning COVID-19 testing of Illinois patients,” including those who live in Illinois but are tested at a Missouri BJC facility.

“Since the beginning of the pandemic, BJC has reported both COVID-19 positive and negative results to all required agencies including (the Illinois Department of Public Health) and Illinois counties,” High said. “Our reports are based on people who provide Illinois residential addresses regardless of where they were tested.”

Schimpf said Wednesday he stands by his statement. Plummer was not immediately available for comment.

38 Comments

Davis vs. Londrigan roundup: New poll, new ad, debate coming up

Wednesday, Sep 23, 2020 - Posted by Rich Miller

* Rodney Davis fundraising email…

Friend,

This is urgent.

Betsy Londrigan just released an internal poll that shows her campaign down by only one percentage point in this key race! We knew the numbers would be tight but this shows this race has further tightened.

Friend, we’re counting on your support now more than ever. We must show Leftwing Londrigan who really has the support of the grassroots in this race. Londrigan’s record of supporting Nancy Pelosi’s radical agenda and palling around with corrupt Illinois politicians like Mike Madigan have NO place in Congress, much less in Downstate Illinois.

We knew this race was in a dead heat before this poll was released and this solidifies our fears. We can’t afford to have any supporters sitting on the sidelines. Can we count on your support today to show Londrigan that Team Rodney is ready to fight to defend this district?

Chip in any amount you can afford now to help Team Rodney respond in this key race.

I probably wouldn’t have posted Londrigan’s internal poll, but that email legitimized it.

* Londrigan campaign press release…

A new poll conducted by GBAO Strategies shows Betsy Dirksen Londrigan in a statistical tie with Congressman Rodney Davis, 47 - 48%, showing an increasingly tight race in Illinois’ 13th Congressional District. At this time in 2018, Davis led the race by six points. Davis also held a six-point lead in the race at the beginning of this summer, but now Dirksen Londrigan has brought Davis’ support to under 50% and is in a position to overtake the vulnerable incumbent by November.

Donald Trump won the 13th District in 2016, but he now trails Vice President Biden 44 - 51%.

After coming within 1% of unseating Davis in 2018, support is growing for Dirksen Londrigan and her vision for Central Illinois — ensuring access to quality, affordable health care, protecting those with pre-existing conditions, and lowering the cost of prescription drugs.

The poll was conducted by GBAO Strategies on behalf of the Dirksen Londrigan campaign among 500 likely voters between September 17-20, 2020. It has a margin of error of +/- 4.4 percentage points.

* Meanwhile…

Today, Rodney Davis’ campaign for Congress released a new ad titled “Kathy,” which highlights Betsy Londrigan’s support for a government-run insurance plan that could force the closure of more than half of America’s rural hospital, including 39 in Illinois.

The ad features Kathy Fergin, who has been a nurse anesthetist in central Illinois for 25 years. Kathy discusses Betsy Londrigan’s support for a government-run insurance plan known as the Medicare X public option, which would have disastrous consequences for rural hospitals, according to two independent, non-partisan studies.

Research highlighted by the American Hospital Association found that the Londrigan-backed public option plan could force the closure of more than half of rural hospitals across the country, including up to 39, or half, of the rural hospitals in Illinois.

Additional research conducted on behalf of the AHA shows the Londrigan-backed plan would cut funding for hospitals across the country by nearly $800 billion over a 10-year period. The AHA says the plan “would result in the largest ever cut to hospitals” and “could have a significant impact on patient access to care.”

As Capitol Fax’s Rich Miller noted, “This congressional district has a huge number of major regional hospitals, likely the most in Illinois and perhaps one of the most in the country. Those hospitals are significant local employers and they also drive technological development. Not to mention that hospitals have been especially hard-hit during the COVID-19 pandemic.”

Rural hospitals in IL-13 include Carrollton, Jerseyville, Litchfield, Staunton, Carlinville, Hillsboro, Taylorville, Pana, Clinton and Monticello.

Londrigan announced her support for Medicare-X in 2018, but has since dodged questions on how the plan would decimate hospitals across the country.

* The ad…

* Script…

Kathy: I’ve been a nurse anesthetist in central Illinois for 25 years.

Rural hospitals are vital to our families and our economy.

But Betsy Londrigan supports a government-run health insurance plan that could force more than half of America’s rural hospitals to close.

Here in Illinois, we could lose 39 hospitals.

Betsy Londrigan’s liberal policies would destroy jobs and jeopardize care.

…Adding… Londrigan response…

Health care is personal to Betsy Dirksen Londrigan and she is committed to protecting and building upon the Affordable Care Act, protecting those with pre-existing conditions, and working to lower prescription drug prices. Dirksen Londrigan is committed to ensuring access to quality, affordable health care while Congressman Rodney Davis is working tirelessly to tear down our health care system.

An ad released today by Congressman Davis is just another desperate attempt to divert attention from his numerous votes in Washington to gut health care protections for Central Illinois families. Here’s what Davis doesn’t want voters to know:

Davis voted 11 times to repeal the Affordable Care Act without a replacement.
Davis repeatedly voted to support a lawsuit that could lead to the Supreme Court overturning the Affordable Care Act by the end of this year.
Davis’ actions would have rolled back funding for Medicaid Expansion and thus risk the closure of rural hospitals, including across Illinois. Repealing the Affordable Care Act would also strip health care coverage from millions, including more than 31,000 in Illinois’ 13th District alone, and remove protections from more than 282,500 13th District residents with pre-existing conditions.

“Betsy’s priorities have always been to strengthen and expand upon the Affordable Care Act and the essential health benefits that go along with it and lower the cost of prescription drugs,” said campaign spokeswoman Eliza Glezer. “Voters in Central Illinois won’t be fooled by Congressman Davis’ desperate attempts to distract from his 11 votes to repeal the ACA without a replacement, votes to gut protections for people with people with pre-existing conditions, and votes against lowering the cost of prescription drugs.”

Additional information on Davis’ disastrous health care record can be found at www.RodneyDavisTruth.com.

* Related…

* Rep. Rodney Davis and challenger Betsy Londrigan to debate Oct. 13

* Candidate Questionnaire: Rodney Davis

21 Comments

*** UPDATED x1 *** Rep. Grant digs hole deeper

Wednesday, Sep 23, 2020 - Posted by Rich Miller

* Background is here if you need it. The Daily Herald interviewed Rep. Amy Grant (R-Wheaton)…

A visibly shaken Grant had trouble recollecting details of the call during a meeting with the Daily Herald Editorial Board on Tuesday, but said she believes the short clips were taken out of context and are a mischaracterization of her views.

“I made a very clumsy and insensitive statement that does not reflect how I feel about my colleagues and any candidates,” Grant said in a prepared statement at the start of the meeting. “My faith is part of my daily life, and hearing those words calling me ‘racist’ rocks me to my core because that’s not who I am.” […]

In one of the recordings, Grant is heard saying Mejia-Beal, a gay, Black man from Lisle, is afraid to travel to the heart of her district, “not because he’s Black but because of the way he talks, he’s all LGBTQ.” In another, Grant says Mejia-Beal is “just another one of the Cook County people … another Black Caucus.” […]

Grant told the Daily Herald her comment regarding the Black Caucus was meant to suggest the General Assembly already is heavily represented by Democrats. And she said she would never intend to imply that the “LGBT community is something that would hamper a person’s ability to run for state (representative). It’s actually a ludicrous suggestion.”

* This is her quote…

I mean, he’s just another one of the Cook County people. That’s all you’re gonna vote for is a Cook County, another, ya know, Black Caucus, that’s all we need is another person on the Black Caucus.

The more I read that comment, the more repulsed I become.

* And here’s the exchange with the Daily Herald…

DH: So those comments you just stated had to do with the size of the Black Caucus in Springfield. Do you have concerns about how large the Black Caucus is?

Rep. Grant: Oh, not, not necessarily the Black Caucus. No, it had nothing to do with that. Um, it’s just that I don’t, I mentioned the disparity between the numbers, and that’s how that came up. I, I made mention that a lot of people in my constituents, or my constituents, they really don’t even understand the, the General Assembly and the differences that are very much glaring and that’s, you know, a 44 to a 74 number. And it’s, it’s, it’s, it’s difficult to get things done and I just had made mention that there’s, there’s some.

DH: OK.

It had nothing to do with the Black Caucus. Right. OK.

*** UPDATE *** Rep. Grant’s opponent, Ken Mejia-Beal, just reported a $55,300 contribution from Gov. JB Pritzker’s campaign fund. Add that to the governor’s previous contribution and Pritzker’s fund has now maxed out.

Also, this is from Rep. Deb Conroy…

Time is up in using faith and a good heart as an excuse to use hateful bigoted speech! DuPage County deserves better than the words Representative Grant chooses to express her thoughts.