This article discusses the negative impact a repeal to the Affordable Care Act could have on hospital systems and local and state governments across the country. The article references the Civic Federation’s analysis of Cook County‘s FY2017 budget that says the Affordable Care Act dramatically improved the Cook County Health and Hospital System’s finances by providing Medicaid coverage for patients who were previously treated free of charge.
The following are the five most read blog posts presented by the Institute for Illinois’ Fiscal Sustainability in 2016. These posts discuss issues ranging from penalties on Illinois’ overdue bills to the ongoing state budget impasse. Penalties on Overdue Bills Add Up for State of Illinois February 17, 2016 This post highlights the interest penalties that the State of Illinois pays due to its delayed bill backlog. According to data from the Illinois Comptroller’s office, late payments…
August 24, 2016 UPDATE 3: The State now plans to post the draft waiver application on August 26 and hold public hearings in Springfield on September 8 and Chicago on September 9. For more information, see the website of the Department of Healthcare and Family Services. August 19, 2016 UPDATE 2: The State has delayed indefinitely the posting of the draft waiver application and public hearings related to the application. A notice from the Illinois Department of Healthcare and…
Prior to the release of the Governor’s annual budget recommendation, the Institute for Illinois’ Fiscal Sustainability at the Civic Federation releases an analysis of the State of Illinois’ fiscal condition. This report presents the Civic Federation’s three-year plan to stabilize Illinois’ finances and addresses the State’s critical financial situation. More than seven months into the current fiscal year, the State of Illinois continues to operate without a budget. Under current revenue…
(CHICAGO) – In a report released today, the Civic Federation’s Institute for Illinois’ Fiscal Sustainability proposes a comprehensive three-year plan that addresses Illinois’ ongoing financial crisis with painful but necessary spending limits and revenue enhancements. The full 55-page report is available here. More than seven months into the current fiscal year, the State of Illinois continues to operate without a budget. However, virtually all of the State’s projected FY2016 revenues will be…
A new report by Governor Bruce Rauner’s administration projects that the State of Illinois’ backlog of unpaid bills could grow to $25.0 billion in FY2019 from $4.4 billion in FY2015 based on current tax and spending policies. The three-year forecast, issued on January 6, 2016, covers FY2017 through FY2019. It also includes actual budget results for FY2015, which ended on June 30, 2015, and estimated results for FY2016, which began on July 1, 2015. The projected growth in unpaid bills is not…
On September 9, 2015, the Cook County Board of Commissioners approved the preliminary budget of the County’s public health system for the fiscal year that begins on December 1, 2015 and runs through November 30, 2016. The vote cleared the way for inclusion of the preliminary budget in the County Board President’s overall FY2016 budget recommendation, which is scheduled to be announced in October. In FY2016 the County is expected to reduce its tax support for the Cook County Health and…
The State of Illinois recently enacted legislation designed to close a $1.6 billion budget gap for the fiscal year ending on June 30, 2015. This blog post reviews the causes of the operating deficit and examines Public Acts 99-0001 and 99-0002, which were signed by Governor Bruce Rauner on March 27. As explained here, the State faced a steep decline in revenues in FY2015 because of the partial rollback of temporary income tax rate increases on January 1, 2015, midway through the fiscal…
The fate of a proposal to use more than $5 billion in new federal funds to overhaul the State of Illinois’ Medicaid program remains unclear as a new gubernatorial administration takes office in Springfield. As previously discussed on this blog, the five-year proposal focuses on developing more community-based alternatives to institutional care for individuals with disabilities, including supportive housing for people with mental health and substance abuse problems. The plan also seeks new…
As the State of Illinois nears its deadline for moving Medicaid recipients into managed care, three managed care organizations have been disciplined for providing poor quality medical care or failing to comply with operational requirements. The Illinois Department of Healthcare and Family Services (HFS) announced on November 14, 2014 that Harmony Health Plan, Family Health Network and Illinois Partnership for Health had been suspended from receiving new Medicaid clients through automatic…
