The Civic Federation supports Cook County’s proposed FY2014 operating budget of $3.2 billion for holding the property tax levy relatively flat, reducing expenditures and aggressively pursuing new revenue for the Cook County Health and Hospitals System under the federal Affordable Care Act. The administration continues to stabilize the County budget without increasing the property tax burden on County taxpayers by showing admirable restraint and forward thinking. Although the County has taken…
An effort to clear Illinois’ Medicaid program of ineligible enrollees has led to the removal of 128,700 participants, but State savings are expected to be far lower than hoped by lawmakers, according to testimony at a legislative hearing on September 17, 2013. The State has moved to cancel 75,707 Medicaid cases as of September 9, officials of the State’s main Medicaid agency said at the joint hearing of the Illinois General Assembly’s House Human Services Appropriations and Senate…
UPDATE: On August 23, 2013, the preliminary FY2014 budget of the Cook County Health and Hospitals System was unanimously approved by the Health System's Board of Directors. The Cook County Board is expected to vote on the plan in October. The Health System's preliminary budget will then be included in the County Board President's overall budget proposal for FY2014. Original blog published on August 22, 2013: Cook County’s public health system would receive a smaller subsidy from County…
The scheduled rollout of Medicaid managed care in Illinois has been delayed by six months so hospitals can set up their own healthcare networks for Medicaid patients. The new networks, known as Accountable Care Entities (ACEs), are intended to cover children and families. The State’s Medicaid agency, the Illinois Department of Healthcare and Family Services (HFS), originally intended to enroll those recipients in managed care beginning in January 2014, but the date has been pushed back to July…
On July 22, 2013, Governor Pat Quinn signed legislation to allow Illinois to expand its Medicaid program under the federal Affordable Care Act beginning in January 2014. Illinois is among 23 states that are expected to join the Medicaid expansion, according to a recent report by the Kaiser Family Foundation. The District of Columbia is also participating. As of July 2013, six states were still debating the expansion, while 21 had decided not to move forward. The following table, based on the…
An increase in the cigarette tax increase designed to provide additional funding for the Illinois Medicaid program generated more revenues than expected despite a drop in sales and hoarding of tax stamps prior to the effective date of the tax increase. As discussed here, the $1-per-pack increase was enacted as part of an overhaul of the Medicaid program that sought to eliminate a funding gap of $2.7 billion in FY2013. The State estimated that the increase would bring in an additional $350…
The Civic Federation supports Governor Pat Quinn’s $62.4 billion FY2014 recommended operating budget for balancing revenues and expenditures without borrowing and making progress toward reducing the State’s backlog of unpaid bills. However, this budget proposal is only a stopgap that further demonstrates the urgent need for comprehensive pension reform. The State’s pension costs, including debt payments on past borrowing for pensions, will consume nearly 25% of State-source General Funds…
State's pension costs to consume nearly 25% of State-source revenues in FY2014 (CHICAGO) – In a new report released today, the Civic Federation’s Institute for Illinois’ Fiscal Sustainability supports Governor Quinn’s proposed budget for FY2014, but warns the proposal is only a stopgap that further demonstrates the urgent need for comprehensive pension reform. The $62.4 billion proposal balances revenues and expenditures without borrowing and makes progress toward reducing the State’s backlog…
The State of Illinois has asked the federal government to extend Cook County’s Medicaid expansion plan to ensure that recipients remain covered after the end of 2013. In a letter on March 21, 2013, the Illinois Department of Healthcare and Family Services (HFS) told federal authorities that it still expects the State to pass legislation allowing Illinois to expand its entire Medicaid program beginning in January 2014. HFS stated that it was requesting an extension for the Cook County plan as a…
State urgently needs long-term plan to address rising pension and Medicaid costs, loss of income tax revenues (CHICAGO) – An analysis released today by the Civic Federation’s Institute for Illinois’ Fiscal Sustainability shows the State of Illinois is on track to accumulate nearly $22 billion in unpaid bills by FY2018 unless action is taken to curb rising pension costs and plan for increases in the Medicaid program. The five-year projections in the Federation’s FY2014 Budget Roadmap are…
