March 18, 2010

Providing specialized, high-quality care to Illinois’ sickest patients could not only improve their health outcomes but reduce Medicaid spending by almost $10 million annually, under legislation sponsored by State Sen. Christine Radogno (R-Lemont).

“Considering the benefits to the patients’ outcome and the projected cost-savings, establishing a program that would transfer patients who need really intense, extended care to a facility dedicated to caring for their specialized needs, is a no-brainer,” said Radogno.

Senate Bill 3743 creates the Long Term Acute Care Hospital Quality Improvement Transfer Program. The program would create access to beds in long term acute care hospitals (LTACH) which specialize in treating patients needing ventilators, wound care and medically complex conditions.

Additional access would be created by paying a supplemental rate to qualifying LTACHs. Facilities classified as LTACHs must meet strict requirements and agree to provide quality measurement data. Short term acute care hospitals would be allowed to transfer patients to LTACHs, and LTACHs would be provided with an increased rate, but that rate would actually be cheaper than paying outlier payments to short term acute care hospitals.

Radogno said that the Illinois Department of Healthcare and Family Services has estimated a conservative savings of $10 million, but noted that savings could be more if hospital re-admissions are reduced. Savings would occur because patients would likely be healthier at discharge.

“Under the provisions of Senate Bill 3743, we are requiring a detailed evaluation of the program’s cost saving. If the program is not saving money, then the Department of Healthcare and Family Services (HFS) can adjust the LTACH’s rate to guarantee cost neutrality,” Radogno explained. “HFS can also reduce the rate at LTACH’s if quality measures aren’t met—increasing incentive for these hospitals to offer superior care.”

Senate Bill 3743 was approved by the Illinois Senate, and now moves to the Illinois House for approval.

March 12, 2010

Springfield, IL – A measure purporting to offer Medicaid reform was advanced out of the Senate on March 12 that Senate Republican Leader Christine Radogno (R-Lemont) said was a step in the right direction, while cautioning that lawmakers need to do more if they want to fundamentally address the problems with Illinois’ Medicaid program.

Senate Republicans attempted to include reforms that would tighten up eligibility requirements, institute a true managed care system allowing the state to use an HMO, and advocated for a moratorium on new Medicaid programs. However, those suggestions were rejected on a partisan role call.

“I don’t want anyone to fool themselves into thinking that we have reformed Medicaid with Senate Bill 3707. This is not comprehensive managed care reform,” Radogno said.

Radogno explained that Senate Bill 3707 seeks to increase the number of Medicaid enrollees who are placed in a managed care program, while also limiting lapse period spending. The senator said a loophole in state law has allowed governors to portray deficit spending as balanced. This practice has contributed to the state’s enormous Medicaid liability.

Read more: Radogno: State needs to fundamentally reform Medicaid

March 10, 2010

Despite Illinois’ overwhelming deficit, on March 10 Gov. Pat Quinn presented a “borrow and spend” budget that the Senate Republican Caucus says may be the most irresponsible budget ever submitted to the General Assembly.

“We saw a speech today that was short in many ways,” said Senate Republican Leader Christine Radogno. “It was short time-wise, short on specifics, short on ideas and, in general, short on leadership at a time when we desperately need some.”

Sen. Radogno said that the governor’s budget proposal is the same song and dance as last year, noting, “Who would have thought that after Blagojevich was gone for a year we could be worse off—and we are worse off. We are not making any progress.”

Not only is the budget proposal out of balance by almost $5 billion—violating the governor’s constitutional duty to propose a balanced budget—under the plan presented by Quinn nearly a fifth of General Funds spending doesn’t have a single penny to back it up.

The Governor also advanced a 33 percent increase on the state income tax, proposing a surcharge from 3 percent to 4 percent for education funding. However, Senate Republicans stressed that this $3 billion increase was obviously a tactical maneuver to pressure lawmakers into increasing taxes.

Read more: Budget proposal reflects failure of leadership