Governor Rauner Seeks to Cut Medicaid by $1.5 Billion :: Illinois Nursing Home Abuse Blog

 

…..But the governor’s cuts go far beyond that to broader and traditional medical providers. While eligibility requirements will not change, and copays or premiums will not increase for individual patients, certain providers will pick up the slack. Hospitals will lose 13% of its budget down to $735 million and could lead to the loss of thousands of jobs at those hospitals, based on at least one estimate. As far as nursing homes, about $216 million would be removed from the Medicaid budget for expenses at those facilities. There would be an additional $40 million cut from pharmaceutical-related expenditures.
State's Budget Woes

The state budget cuts here are an attempt to make up for Illinois’s immense $6.2 billion deficit. Yet while the state may save and work toward balancing its budget, it remains to be seen whether medical providers – largely hospitals and nursing home in this situation – will truly take a cut, or simply pass the cost on to private insurance, which could potentially result in eventual premium and/or copay amounts.

This also comes on the heels of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, which among its many provisions included an expansion of Medicaid that would be funded by the federal government, but which states could also choose to opt out. While reports indicate Governor Rauner considered this option, it appears that for the moment it won’t and that Illinois will accept that money. The proposed budget also apparently presumes that many Illinois residents will take advantage of the health care exchange subsidized by the ACA, which will save the state money as well.

Read the entire article by clicking on the following:  Governor Rauner Seeks to Cut Medicaid by $1.5 Billion :: Illinois Nursing Home Abuse Blog

Questions and answers on Illinois insurance exchange plans - DailyHerald.com

By Associated Press

Here are some fast facts about how buying health insurance will change in Illinois as President Barack Obama's health overhaul takes effect and the first insurance exchange starts operating later this year:

Q. How many people are uninsured in Illinois and how many of those are projected to get insurance under the exchange?

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A. Nearly 1.8 million Illinois residents are uninsured. An estimated 486,000 Illinois residents will get coverage from commercial insurers through the exchange in 2014, growing to 1 million customers by 2016.

To read more Q &A click on the following: :  Questions and answers on Illinois insurance exchange plans - DailyHerald.com

Medicare: How Paul Ryan's budget would change it - CSMonitor.com

 

Medicare is a fee-for-service program which itself pays for health care procedures for most beneficiaries. Under the GOP plan, drafted largely by Budget Committee chairman Rep. Paul Ryan of Wisconsin, it would be changed into a program which subsidizes the purchase of health insurance by individuals.

Current Medicare beneficiaries, and those approaching retirement age, would not be affected by the GOP’s proposed changes. Instead they would apply to people currently 54 years of age and younger

Making health care something seniors purchase from their own pockets would unleash the power of free market competition, according to Ryan. Customers would gravitate to programs that offered higher value or greater quality, he said.

Critics counter that the Medicare subsidy inevitably would shrink relative to health-care costs due to the high rate of medical inflation

Click on the following for more details:  Medicare: How Paul Ryan's budget would change it - CSMonitor.com

Illinois hospitals forced to restrict free care

 

Across Illinois in 2010, requests for financial assistance at hospitals swelled as jobs and health insurance benefits shriveled, leaving fewer people able to pay their medical bills.

the well-known Cleveland Clinic was feeling the pinch of a 20 percent increase in charitable assistance this year and announced in early December that it will restrict charity care to people living within 150 miles of downtown Cleveland starting Jan. 1.

Click on the following for more details:  Illinois hospitals forced to restrict free care - Rockford, IL - Rockford Register Star