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Here come the Medicaid cuts, and the tax hike

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Illinois

* The governor took bill action this morning…

Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn has signed a $2.7 billion package of cuts and taxes designed to repair a long-term deficit in the state’s Medicaid program.

The Chicago Democrat signed the five bills Thursday, including a tax increase on cigarettes of $1 per pack. Quinn says lawmakers “worked together in a bipartisan manner to tackle a grave crisis.”

* Tribune…

Under the measure Quinn signed, hundreds of thousands of poor Illinoisans would lose health coverage under stricter qualification standards.

A prescription drug discount program for seniors would be eliminated and dental care for adults would be greatly curtailed.

Doctors and hospitals that provide care will see payment rates slashed.

Doctors won’t experience any rate cuts at all.

* The governor outlined some of the Medicaid cuts and reforms in his press release…

Reducing eligibility for adults in the FamilyCare program to 133 percent of the Federal Poverty Level ($30,660 for a family of four).

· The state’s subsidy for the federal prescription drug (Part D) program, IL Cares Rx, is terminated, but “Extra Help/Low Income Subsidy” provides federal assistance to low-income seniors and people with disabilities eligible for Medicare.

· New integrity measures will aggressively target client and provider fraud through:

o Enhanced eligibility verification of income and residency through use of private vendor’s access to national databases for annual redeterminations; and

o Expanded authority of the HFS Inspector General to deny, suspend and recover overpayments and conduct pre-payment and post-payment provider audits.

· Eliminates some optional services, such as group psychotherapy and adult chiropractic services, and places utilization control on certain optional services such as adult dental services (restricted to emergencies), adult podiatry services (restricted to diabetics), and adult eyeglasses (limited to 1 every 2 years).

· Limits are placed on adult and children’s prescriptions to four per month, with additional prescriptions available based on patients’ needs.

· Most provider groups receive a rate cut of 2.7% except for doctors, dentists, clinics, safety-net hospitals and critical access rural hospitals. Non-exempt hospitals receive a rate cut of 3.5%. Nursing home cuts average 2.7%, but the homes serving clients who have the highest care needs are being impacted less.

posted by Rich Miller
Thursday, Jun 14, 12 @ 9:26 am

Comments

Recessions have consequences

Comment by Shore Thursday, Jun 14, 12 @ 9:35 am
Apparently not for the banks and Wall street, nor the 1% they represent.

Comment by PublicServant Thursday, Jun 14, 12 @ 9:38 am
When will smokers see the price increase?

Comment by Dan Shields, Springfield, IL Thursday, Jun 14, 12 @ 9:43 am
Public Servant - not for Commercial Club members either…. on the other hand, state insurance which they are trying to take away from retirees, doesn’t provide free vision care and when one pays premiums the benefits is already one pair of glasses every two years.

Comment by Liberty_First Thursday, Jun 14, 12 @ 9:47 am
Actually Liberty, nobody is trying to take health insurance away from retirees. They just want them to pay for it.

Comment by Bill Thursday, Jun 14, 12 @ 9:59 am
“When will smokers see the price increase?”

It’s effective June 24.

Comment by Secret Square Thursday, Jun 14, 12 @ 10:37 am
“…pay for it”. It being something they were promised for many years of service, for a monthly deduction from their retirement income, and for co-pays. Don’t think there are many free pairs of glasses going to retirees. Should they pay a little more, maybe. Should they have to choose between a cola they already paid for or health insurance, absolutely not.

Comment by otownie Thursday, Jun 14, 12 @ 10:43 am
Bill, Actually pay for it again. It was already paid for when it was substituted for wage increases long ago. This is following the model of the Commercial Club and State Chamber. They transferred wealth and “prosperity” up to the very top by ripping off their employees’ pensions and health care too.

Comment by Honestly Thursday, Jun 14, 12 @ 10:45 am
I know, I know. Its just that stripping poor children of their health care and poor seniors of their medicine seems a little more catastrophic than making pensioners pay more for theirs. I’m pretty confident that choice thing will get thrown out in court. What’s the poor kid’s or senior’s recourse? This bill makes me sick and the press raves about it like it is a big accomplishment.

Comment by Bill Thursday, Jun 14, 12 @ 11:27 am
Indeed, recessions have consequences.

The elites use a recession caused by 1% financial malfeasance as pretext to dismantle the safety net and make tax policy more regressive. Instead of adopting real countercyclical policy, they redistribute resources to areas where it has the lowest multiplier effects like tax breaks for the so-called job creators. But sadly, the jobs don’t come. They’re shipped overseas or reduced from automation. Wealth is increasingly concentrated. The middle class gets decimated. The mostly corporate media help redirect anger away from the 1% onto the poor and the disabled. Eventually, so-called progressives jump on the bandwagon, joining with Republicans in imposing austerity on the poor and disabled so to protect unionized supporters, who are of higher priority, but cannot power the economy themselves.

Wealth is more concentrated among the connected supporters of both parties while the rest of the masses suffer from policies that do little to help the economy as a whole. The poor economic times persist, which leads to more of the above.

Comment by Sam Thursday, Jun 14, 12 @ 11:41 am
A long term deficit in the state’s medicaid program? Would that come from not paying medical bills and rolling them over into the next (after next after next after next) fiscal year?

Comment by Emily Booth Thursday, Jun 14, 12 @ 6:31 pm
No Emily, the Medicaid deficit comes from hundreds of thousands of people thrown out of work who now require medicaid to meet the healthcare needs of their families, while at the same time, not paying the taxes to support medicaid, which they would have done had they not lost their jobs due to the recession.

Comment by PublicServant Thursday, Jun 14, 12 @ 7:56 pm
But thank God CME got their tax break anyway.

Comment by PublicServant Thursday, Jun 14, 12 @ 8:11 pm
And yet many poor and middle class people vote Republican for whatever reasons. Being stupid has consequences.

Comment by wishbone Thursday, Jun 14, 12 @ 9:36 pm
Hey wishbone, the last time I looked the state of Illinois is all democratic.

Comment by Big Tuna Monday, Jun 18, 12 @ 7:53 pm