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Putting human faces on line items

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* Carol Marin writes about Bonnie Liltz, the mother of a “catastrophically disabled” daughter who was herself desperately ill..

In 2012, Bonnie had a recurrence of cancer. And Courtney had to stay in an emergency residential setting until her mother recovered. It was not a good place and Courtney, said Glasgow, “came home a different kid. . . . It devastated Bonnie.”

Sue and Bonnie were both in the process of making application to a suburban residential center they felt would provide quality care. “But all these places have waiting lists,” said Sue.

Currently there are 22,000 developmentally disabled people on various waiting lists in Illinois, according to Veronica Vera of the Department of Human Services. And 7,000 waiting for residential placement. Yet, in Springfield, lawmakers and the governor are debating $33 million in cuts to those services.

“Bonnie wrote a letter to the governor,” said Sue, “asking him to reconsider.”

On the night she gave Courtney and herself an overdose of medication and wrote a suicide note, Bonnie was experiencing her worst attack yet of gastric pain and horrific diarrhea. She thought she was dying.

“She was in a desperate phase of her life,” said her attorney. “This was not a cry for help. This was a person who was at the end of her options in taking care of her daughter and herself.”

On May 27, Schaumburg police found both at home and unconscious. Courtney did not survive. Bonnie did.

Glasgow credits police and prosecutors for their professionalism and compassion. The charge, nonetheless, is murder.

Oy.

posted by Rich Miller
Monday, Jun 22, 15 @ 1:40 pm

Comments

More evidence that there is little fat. Virtually any cut will do lots of damage. If Rauner knows where there’s waste he should propose cutting it.But there is no solution without more revenue. The legislative leaders have made it very clear they are willing to raise revenue. It’s time for Rauner to exercise some leadership and stop blowing hot air at the state’s problems.What’s his solution? Right to work? Whose life would it save?
Rich, why don’t you do a survey. Who is a bigger demagogue? Ranuer or Blagojevich

Comment by Truthteller Monday, Jun 22, 15 @ 1:59 pm
Words fail.

A pox on all their houses, the dome and the mansion alike.

Comment by Formerly Known As... Monday, Jun 22, 15 @ 2:00 pm
In the philosophy of people like Rauner, there are those who can be productive citizens, helping the economy of the state(money makes the world go round, you know) and there are those that are not. In this state of mind, only the producers counts for anything. Therefore, money should not be squandered on non-productive people. That also includes retirees. Not productive. Decades of work don’t count. Not my philosophy, nor the attitude of people with souls, but it seems that this is the way we are headed.

Comment by AnonymousOne Monday, Jun 22, 15 @ 2:03 pm
Bonnie had options. Illinois is not in compliance with the Supreme Court’s Olmstead decision, which views the large institutions for those with developmental disabilities a violation of someone’s civil rights. Bonnie could have filed a complaint with the Office for Civil Rights in the United States Department of Health and Human Services. She could have also sued the state for violating Cortney’s civil rights. Instead of seeking legal remedies, bonnie committed murder in cold blood. If she is convicted of first degree murder, the sentencing range is 20 to 60 years and the offender must serve 100 percent of the time. Even if she received the minimum, it essentially would be a life sentence for bonnie. A conviction with a lengthy sentence is needed as a deterrent so other parents don’t do the same thing to their adult children.

Comment by Muscular Monday, Jun 22, 15 @ 2:03 pm
Chilling and heartbreaking for all involved. We can’t forget in the procedural drama of the budget battles that there are real people behind the numbers. What a tragedy all around! I’m afraid we get distracted by debating $1 million ad buys and the strategy behind this statement or that hearing, and forget that every day across this state people are suffering and trying to keep it together for themselves and their loved ones. This woman worked for 23 years to keep her daughter alive and well cared for, when her biological family and first adoptive family were not up to the task. I’m in tears just trying to imagine all that they went through, and to have it end this way. Devastating. Thanks to Carol Marin for telling this story right now.

Comment by Pawn Monday, Jun 22, 15 @ 2:05 pm
Sometimes in life, there are simply and absolutely no “good” options.

Comment by Logic not emotion Monday, Jun 22, 15 @ 2:07 pm
- Bonnie could have filed a complaint with the Office for Civil Rights in the United States Department of Health and Human Services. She could have also sued the state for violating Cortney’s civil rights. -

Yes, obviously someone going through a terrible bout with cancer while trying to take care of her severely disabled child had all the time and resources in the world to navigate the legal process.

You may be cut, but your brain sure isn’t the most developed muscle in your body.

Comment by Anonymous Monday, Jun 22, 15 @ 2:14 pm
This reminds me of that woman who took her severely disabled daughter over the state line and abandoned her. The desperation felt must be extreme for a relative/caregiver to take this kind of action. I hope we don’t hear more stories like this.

Comment by Wensicia Monday, Jun 22, 15 @ 2:20 pm
Muscles: When the need is immediate, pursuing a legal remedy is not the same as receiving assistance; if it does not result in immediate assistance it is not an “option.” When elephants (and donkeys) dance, the ants get trampled - and we are all ants in illinois because for both sides the end justifies the means.

Comment by Alexander Cut the Knot Monday, Jun 22, 15 @ 2:30 pm
I am sorry for the child. I don’t see any alternative but to charge the mother. There have been similar cases in recent years in Illinois, not sure how they came out in the end in court.

I do wonder what was wrong with the emergency residential center, whether the problems, if any, have been rectified, and whether other emergency options are identified for parents in similar need of emergency care. Did the mom try these options? Was there an option to be advanced on the list for permanent placement, given mom’s health, and did the case manager attempt to do this.

If the parents will only accept one facility, how does that impact the system as a whole.

Seems like these funds shouldn’t be cut (or perhaps cuts should be replaced from fy16’s fund sweeps-still plenty of money-billions-in those special funds), but I’d like to hear more about Rauner’s staff’s rationale for these particular cuts.

Comment by Cassandra Monday, Jun 22, 15 @ 2:33 pm
AnymousOne summed it up real quick, although I had never thought about it that way. This is Rauner’s way…

Comment by downstate commissioner Monday, Jun 22, 15 @ 2:48 pm
Thank you, Muscular, for the expert legal advice. Now drink another protein shake, put more weight on that bar, and pump some more iron.

While no one here agrees that what this woman did was right, most of us have compassion for people in desperate situations. This is part of the reason we pay taxes. To pay for programs for people that need help. This family clearly needed more help than most.

Now, we’ve got a billionaire in charge who thinks people like this family need to tighten their belts. Unreal.

Comment by Roamin' Numeral Monday, Jun 22, 15 @ 2:54 pm
http://m.kiplinger.com/article/retirement/T039-C000-S004-medicare-advantage-plans-can-cut-costs-and-hassle.html

Bonnie is mentioned in this article as well.

“If you’re in an Advantage plan now, Families USA’s Steinberg says that “you’ve got to read the fine print” before reenrolling during open enrollment from October 15 to December 7. You’ll receive a notice from your plan on changes in premiums, out-of-pocket costs and provider networks for next year.

The information in such a notice came as a big surprise to Bonnie Liltz, 54, of Schaumburg, Ill., who qualifies for Medicare because she has a disability. She had been a member of Humana Choice PPO for several years. But this year, the plan refused to cover two of her five medicines. She filed an appeal with the plan, including letters of support from two doctors. She got one of the two drugs covered.”
*****
If you are opposed to what actions Bonnie took, what are your solutions? What are you willing to do within your community to make sure this doesn’t happen? Don’t preach- DO! Make this a starting point for the conversation. Organize resources in your community and make sure people know how to access them and, even more importantly, how to promote/support/invest in them for the good of everyone.

Comment by Anon221 Monday, Jun 22, 15 @ 2:58 pm
This story is terribly, terribly sad.

It’s unfortunate that this woman thought death was a better option for her daughter than placing her in a residential center that had openings.

Comment by Stuff Happens Monday, Jun 22, 15 @ 2:59 pm
So when does everyone think the first injunction will be issued?

Comment by Anonymous Monday, Jun 22, 15 @ 3:00 pm
I’m going to go home tonight, hug my kids, and thank God for their good health.

Comment by The Way I See It .... Monday, Jun 22, 15 @ 3:01 pm
It is easy to rationalize these cuts when you are not directly involved. Not so simple when it is your brother, or your job helping someone feed himself. You have to wonder how different priorities would be if one of the GA leaders or Governor had a close family member who had a severe disability and lived at Shapiro or a group home. Or needed 24 hour supervision from the age of 11. It does not take much effort ‘not see’ the needs if you have no skin in the game while you talk conceptually about other equally important issues. Unfortunately as Sen. Kirk’s stroke showed, membership in the disabled club does not require much to join and it does not matter who you are, how you were born, or what you’ve done. Illinois ranks as one worse states in funding for people with disabilities. So lets cut some more so we maintain that proud position.

Comment by zatoichi Monday, Jun 22, 15 @ 3:13 pm
Cassandra: There aren’t “emergency residential centers.” People can, in an emergency, move to the top of the waiting list, and be offered the first available placement. This would likely be in a large residential facility. The alternative — care at home — would have been possible if there were other relatives or friends willing and able to provide housing and some care for her daughter, but that doesn’t seem to have been an option for her.

The idea that Ms Liltz had some kind of immediate legal remedy is . . . Am I allowed to say absurd? It took six years of litigation before Ligas v Hamos was settled; it is not scheduled to be fully implemented until 2017, by which time Illinois is required to give only three thousand class members who live at home, either home services or community-based placement. After that, it is supposed to keep moving people off the waiting list “at a reasonable pace.”

To force Illinois to provide community-based care to her daughter, Ms Liltz would have had to intervene in Ligas, and persuade the judge to override the consent decree, and to give her daughter priority over all the other desperate families on the list. I think her chances of even finding a lawyer to represent her would have been slim. Maybe she could have used her spare time to go to law school, and then represented herself. Or maybe Muscular would have volunteered.

I don’t have a problem saying that murder/suicide is wrong. Just don’t pretend that this desperate, sick woman could have eliminated her dilemma if she hadn’t been so ignorant or lazy or intellectually incurious.

Comment by wendy Monday, Jun 22, 15 @ 3:24 pm
I cannot imagine the desperation Bonnie felt. Government should protect its citizens, but government should also improve its citizen’s lives. This tragedy should remind us all that corporations’ interests are not our own. And as much as Rauner wants to use Illinois laws to improve the “lives” of corporate interests through his turn back agenda, he needs to exercise leadership and agree to raise revenue to improve the lives of individuals. It really is that simple. But Rauner is a man who prides himself on never losing and on being the baddest enemy anyone can have. I think it is unlikely that he suddenly will find a place for compassion and empathy in his world.

Comment by Anon Monday, Jun 22, 15 @ 3:27 pm
So the reason she didn’t go to a state that would provide these services was……? It seems that that would be a far more rationale approach to this problem than what Bonnie did. Since there was apparently no supportive family (otherwise it would have been unconscionable to put the child in the state institution in the first place) there was likely little reason to stay.

There needs to be more info provided to really see if this was a “lack of funding” problem or just the act of someone desperately depressed.

People do strange things in stressful situations. My Mom once admitted that if my Dad had died from the heart attack he had when I was 11, she would have poisoned both of us. She was a passionate, caring person with family who would be there for support, but sometimes these situations affect people in irrational ways.

That’s why I find this kind of pandering for more money for the bureaucracy based on this story a little more than despicable.

Comment by Arizona Bob Monday, Jun 22, 15 @ 3:33 pm
governor, you still have time. Let Bob Cratchit be his family.

Comment by Anonymous Monday, Jun 22, 15 @ 3:37 pm
==pandering for more money for the bureaucracy==

I think you meant more money for services. I know in your demented view of government more money for anything is bad but sometimes it isn’t.

I have no idea if more money would have helped in this situation and we’ll never know if it would have. But, to use your term, I think it’s a little more than despicable to be against more money for these types of services.

Comment by Demoralized Monday, Jun 22, 15 @ 3:41 pm
==People do strange things in stressful situations.==

That is so very true. In some cases, as is clear here, all rational thought goes out the window. I have no idea whether society can help in those situations. But it wouldn’t hurt to try harder.

Comment by Demoralized Monday, Jun 22, 15 @ 3:45 pm
Arizona Bob
That’s why I find this kind of pandering for more money for the bureaucracy based on this story a little more than despicable.

AZ B -I must say that you never cease to amaze me with your callous disregard for the condition of others in our society as well as your determined ignorance. Some might say your mother would have done us a favor but I will resist lowering myself to your level.

Comment by Old and In The Way Monday, Jun 22, 15 @ 3:49 pm
Uh, Wendy, I didn’t say that she should have filed a lawsuit-that was another commenter. Nor, did I say she was “ignorant, lazy, or intellectually incurious.” I don’t know her.

I did say that I wondered whether the intake system (for residential placement) functioned the way it should, and whether the case manager did all possible to communicate the urgency of the situation.

There’s a lot we don’t know about this case. But I don’t think we should be blaming Gov Rauner in advance for the problems in this service system, which have probably existed through the tenures of many Illinois governors. We should,as I said, ask his staff to explain the cuts, which are, of course, not yet made.

Comment by Cassandra Monday, Jun 22, 15 @ 3:59 pm
Sadly the only way some people can actually develop compassion for others is for some terrible health catastrophe to hit home. Until then, other people are just nobodies, nothings who must have done something to deserve it. And for these kinds of people, when tragedy does actually hit, it’s like no one has ever, ever experienced anything as bad as them. I’m not really sure what these types are made of but glad I’m not one of them.

Comment by AnonymousOne Monday, Jun 22, 15 @ 4:22 pm
Am I vastly oversimplifiying this tragedy by stating that it was triggered by an HMO formulary change? That’s it? Incredible.

I’ve been dealing with this for years, where coverages change overnight without regard to plan years, fiscal years, logic, or anything else. Goofy “prior authorization” schemes ration medications and/or force one into a $600 doctor visit, also on the HMO’s tab, because the allotted quota of migraines for the month has been exceeded.
Who can see the ham hand of CMS all over this “plan design?”

Comment by Arthur Andersen Monday, Jun 22, 15 @ 4:45 pm
Arthur Andersen: Maybe there is a relationship; ? Her Medicare problems occurred two years ago. There is no public information about whether she was able to resolve it by switching plans, or that her medical crisis in May was somehow related to an inability to get medication she needed for herself.

Comment by wendy Monday, Jun 22, 15 @ 5:16 pm
@Dem
=I have no idea whether society can help in those situations. But it wouldn’t hurt to try harder.=

I agree, Dem, but the problem isn’t so much “trying harder” as much as “working smarter”. Until you know how to deal with a challenge, throwing money at it is counterproductive. Government bureaucracies are very good at spending money, they’re just not so good at solving PROBLEMS with the money.

Comment by Arizona Bob Monday, Jun 22, 15 @ 7:52 pm
In this one instance, I will agree with you Bob. I have “fixed” the $10 pill-better than $600 dollar visit several times over the past decade only to have it “unfixed” when one of the cast of characters changes. Penny wise, pound foolish indeed.

Comment by Arthur Andersen Monday, Jun 22, 15 @ 8:14 pm
I guess they should have been making cell phones rather than depending on the compassion of the people. Like we need more variety of cell phones.

Comment by lost in the weeds Monday, Jun 22, 15 @ 9:46 pm