Capitol Fax.com - Your Illinois News Radar

*** UPDATED x1 *** Fed up unions sue opioid industry

Thursday, Feb 7, 2019 - Posted by Rich Miller

According to the Centers for Disease Control, construction workers have the highest rate of opioid-related overdoses compared to any other occupation in the country. The Chicago Regional Council of Carpenters lost two of its members in the last couple months. [Gary Perinar], who heads the union, said the problems are also costing their union health fund millions of dollars as more and more carpenters struggle with opioid addictions.

“It affects their ability to perform on a job site, it hurts our contractors with respect to productivity, it’s a downward spiral in moving forward in a carpentry career,” he said.

The carpenters union teamed up with the International Union of Operating Engineers Local 150 to file a groundbreaking lawsuit in hopes of holding drug manufacturers, distributors and doctors accountable. They are the first unions in Illinois to take legal action against several pharmaceutical companies, and others.

“The suit accuses the drug companies of fraud, unjust enrichment and conspiracy for the way they falsified research and misled people into believing their opioids were not addictive,” said Ari Scharg, attorney with Edelson PC.

Union attorneys said they are not looking for a settlement. They would rather have the case go to trial to force companies to release information about their drugs.

*** UPDATE *** The complaint is here.

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*** UPDATED x1 *** Pritzker opposes proposed ICE detention facility in Dwight

Thursday, Feb 7, 2019 - Posted by Rich Miller

* Pantagraph…

The Dwight Planning Commission will consider an annexation agreement later this month that could be the first step in bringing a federal detention center for illegal immigrants to the Livingston County village. […]

Immigration Centers of America, headquartered in Richmond, Va., has contacted village officials about an 88-acre parcel of land near Interstate 55 and Illinois 17 for a federal center to house 1,200 men awaiting immigration hearings.

The facility would be managed by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). […]

If the detention center is built, Anderson said, the estimated $20 million facility would employ about 280 people.

* I asked the governor’s press secretary Jordan Abudayyeh for a response…

Governor Pritzker strongly opposes any action that would allow President Trump to advance his anti-immigrant agenda. The administration will closely monitor and oppose this effort going forward.

*** UPDATE *** From Fred Tsao at the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights…

The for-profit immigration prison being proposed in Dwight has already been rejected throughout northern Illinois and Indiana, from Crete, Joliet, and Hopkins Park in Illinois to Hobart, Gary, Roselawn, and Elkhart County in Indiana. Several of these communities could use an economic boost. Yet the people and elected leaders in these communities recognized that these prisons are wrong on so many levels, including economically and morally. They realize that private prisons leave a trail of devastation as the promises of economic benefit do not materialize. They realize that private prison companies are only interested in making profits, and are all too eager to cut corners to do so, even if it hurts their host community. And they realize that the facility would be used for jailing people torn from their families, workplaces, and communities, people who have no business being locked away, especially for someone else’s profit. We hope that the leaders of Dwight will come to the same realization and reject this proposal.

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*** UPDATED x4 *** Minimum wage roundup

Thursday, Feb 7, 2019 - Posted by Rich Miller

*** UPDATE 1 *** Gov. Pritzker met with the Senate Democrats earlier today and I’m hearing it went well. The Senate Democrats’ spokesman just told reporters he believes the minimum wge bill, SB1, will be run on the floor shortly. Looks like the holdouts weren’t able to stop a roll call. Click here for an analysis of the bill.

…Adding… The bill, as amended in committee yesterday, is now up for debate. Click here to watch.

*** UPDATE 2 *** The bill passed with 39 votes. For some odd reason, the Senate President did not vote.

…Adding… I’m told President Cullerton was “watching the roll call” and didn’t vote. Oops. He’s filing a letter now to reflect his intention to vote “Yes.”

*** UPDATE 3 *** IRMA…

“We are disappointed the Senate did not take the time to address ways to lessen the impact of an unprecedented wage hike, particularly on suburban and downstate employers. We will continue to seek a compromise in the House, and we urge legislators to not rush this issue as they consider the implications this will have on employers and employees in their communities,” said Rob Karr, president & CEO, Illinois Retail Merchants Association.

*** UPDATE 4 *** ILGOP…

Did Governor Pritzker have any intention to return to the ‘agreed-bill’ process? On his first major legislative initiative, that answer is a hard no. This is the same failed form of governing that put Illinois in the poor fiscal condition it’s in. Pritzker is ignoring the concerns of Republican lawmakers and business leaders as he attempts to ram through legislation that would nearly double the state’s minimum wage just so he can chalk up a ‘win’ before his budget address, but at what cost?

Pritzker’s minimum wage hike will crush small businesses and will cost taxpayers at least a billion dollars a year once the plan is fully implemented, and that’s not even a complete estimate. Pritzker’s administration has not disclosed the full amount of increased spending his wage hike would require. Pritzker’s reckless budgeting will cost taxpayers and small businesses dearly. It is yet another Pritzker proposal that will bankrupt Illinois.

[ *** End Of Updates *** ]

* Last night on Illinois Public Radio…

llinois lawmakers may be slowing the process to increase the minimum wage to $15 an hour by 2025. The proposal was expected to be called for a vote and passed out of the Senate as soon as Thursday.

State Sen. Kim Lightford (D-Maywood), sponsor of the plan, said Gov. J.B. Pritzker wanted the bill approved in time for his budget address on Feb. 20. […]

For that to happen, the Senate would need to approve the plan before they leave Springfield this week. With ongoing negotiations, Lightford is not sure that will happen.

“I think anything can still happen around here,” said Lightford. “I think there is some conversations that are definitely going to happen this evening. I don’t know if they’ll yield returns enough for me to move this bill forward tomorrow.”

* Capital News Illinois…

Gov. J.B. Pritzker has said he would like the minimum wage bill, his first major policy push, approved by the time he gives his budget address on Feb. 20. But Senate Majority Leader Kimberly Lightford, a Maywood Democrat and the bill’s lead sponsor, exhibited a more cautious tone after a near two-hour private caucus of Senate Democrats which preceded the Executive Committee hearing.

“If we move the needle (in negotiations) tonight and it’s something that we can take back to the caucus and have a conversation and caucus is comfortable with it, then possibly (it could be voted on Thursday),” Lightford said. […]

The Illinois Restaurant Association, which represents 27,000 restaurants employing 577,000 people across the state according to its president Sam Toia, testified as a proponent of the bill while noting it’s a “tough pill to swallow.”

Toia said the inclusion of a tip credit, which requires employers to pay only 60 percent of the minimum wage to tipped workers, allowed the IRA to support the wage increase.

Subscribers know more.

* IRMA…

“[Yesterday’s Senate Executive Committee] vote was carried out without the concerns of the business community in mind, particularly retailers in downstate and suburban communities who are less able to absorb such a dramatic increase in labor costs compared to their counterparts in the city of Chicago. As we try to strike a balance that will benefit workers and employers across the state, the business community has proposed a regional plan to increase the state’s minimum wage based on the economic realities in different parts of the state. We urge lawmakers to pause and think about the local employers in their districts while working toward a solution that will benefit everyone,” said Rob Karr, president & CEO, Illinois Retail Merchants Association.

* IMA…

“Increasing the minimum wage for Illinois businesses by 82 percent will have a detrimental impact on employers across the state,” said Mark Denzler, president and CEO of the Illinois Manufacturers’ Association. “The IMA and the business community have offered real alternatives to help mitigate the negative impact on job creators in Illinois. This includes a minimum wage based on geography, because the cost of living in downstate Illinois is significantly less than it is in the city of Chicago. We’ve also asked for a longer implementation of the minimum wage increase and more robust tax credits for small employers. Lawmakers should give serious consideration to these ideas instead of rushing through legislation that makes it harder for manufacturers to operate.”

* One Illinois…

A statewide hike in the minimum wage to $15 an hour would have the greatest impact on earnings outside Chicago, according to a new study released Tuesday.

In some ways, that’s not surprising, as Chicago has already moved to raise its minimum wage to $13 over a five-year span set to be completed this summer. But according to “The Regional Impacts of a $15 Minimum Wage in Illinois,” released Tuesday by the Illinois Economic Policy Institute, a $15 minimum wage would still raise annual earnings by $5,000 for low-income workers in the Chicago area, and would have an even greater impact on other metropolitan areas including central Illinois, Rockford, and the so-called Metro East area near St. Louis.

The study projects that a $15 minimum wage would hike annual earnings $8,000 in central Illinois around Springfield, and $7,000 in east-central Illinois including Champaign-Urbana and around Rockford. Wages would rise $6,000 in Metro East.

The study suggests: “These higher incomes … would boost consumer spending at local retail stores, restaurants, and small businesses — offsetting any initial drop in employment or hours.”

It cites how four states have already adopted a $15-an-hour minimum wage, including New Jersey just last week, while 19 states overall moved to increase their minimum wages in some way with the new year. Illinois residents already voted in a 2014 advisory referendum to support a hike in the minimum wage, with 83 of the state’s 102 counties voting in favor.

“Working-class families in Illinois are falling behind their peers in other states,” said study co-author and ILEPI Policy Director Frank Manzo IV. “A $15 minimum wage would boost earnings for more than 1.4 million adult workers across Illinois.

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Mendoza turns sights on MCOs

Thursday, Feb 7, 2019 - Posted by Rich Miller

* Pantagraph…

Illinois Comptroller Susana Mendoza is backing legislation that would require insurance companies that manage much of the state’s Medicaid program to publish more information about how promptly they are reimbursing claims.

The insurance companies, known as managed care organizations, or MCOs, contract with the state to manage the care of individuals enrolled in Medicaid. Among other things, that involves working with patients to make sure they receive routine exams and preventive care, and coordinating services provided by their primary physicians and other specialists.

The goal of a managed care system is to reduce costs and improve health outcomes by preventing the need for many emergency room visits and the complications that can result when patients don’t receive follow-up care.

Last year, Illinois greatly expanded the managed care system to make it available in all counties. But in a statement Wednesday, Mendoza said it is difficult for her office to know what happens to the roughly $63 billion a year the state now spends on managed care after the money is handed over to the MCOs.

…Adding… The article is in error. That $63 billion is the total number from the procurement. The annual spending is far lower.

…Adding… The comptroller’s office says current fiscal year is roughly $14 billion all funds for MCOs.

* From Mendoza’s press release…

“South Shore Hospital has been devastated by delayed and denied payments from the MCOs, and it threatens our ability to keep the doors open,” South Shore Hospital Chief Executive Officer Tim Caveney said. “South Shore cares for the state’s most vulnerable patients. MCOs, as for-profit companies, deny and delay payments to maximize their profits. Today, we are still owed millions by the MCOs and seeing more than 20 percent of our cases denied by the MCOs, for no legitimate reasons. This cannot continue.”

Caveney said he commends Comptroller Mendoza and the sponsors of this legislation for working to bring transparency to the process. “It is only through the good work of Comptroller Mendoza and other policymakers that we can advocate for Illinois’ most vulnerable residents and protect the fragile health care safety net that is the only option for so many,” he said.

House Bill 2117 /Senate Bill 1238 would require MCOs to publish provider payment information on their websites every quarter. The information posted would include:

* Total number of claims received by the MCO for that quarter
* The number and amounts paid to providers
* When the payments were made
* When the claims for those payments were received
* When the service the payment is for was rendered

“The Medicaid program represents a massive area of state spending. This basic level of transparency is needed to protect taxpayer dollars and to ensure MCOs are paying what is owed to providers who serve Medicaid patients,” Representative McSweeney, R-Barrington Hills, said.

“Providers offering care to sick children and others in need are struggling because of payment delays, and they have no reliable way of knowing when their next payment is coming.” Senator Fine, D-Glenview, said. “As more and more state dollars are filtering through MCOs, it just makes sense to require transparency and give some predictability to our health care providers.”

The MCO Transparency Act is a natural outgrowth of Comptroller Mendoza’s Debt Transparency Act that opened the windows on unpaid bills held by state agencies and her other transparency reforms that shed light on the off-shoring of the Governor’s staff; the Vendor Payment Program and the state’s obligations to pay Late Payment Interest Penalties.