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Associated Press: Illinois Medicaid managed care switch kicks in Sunday
Hundreds of thousands of Illinois residents covered by Medicaid will see their health coverage change Sunday when they’re transferred into managed care.
HealthChoice Illinois, a plan ordered by the legislature in 2014 to reduce costs, enlists Managed Care Organizations to handle health care. MCOs purportedly focus on prevention and health maintenance with an eye toward lowering costs.
State Journal-Register: Here’s what all 10 Springfield aldermen think of the Y-block park plan
After spending months deciding what should be built on the YWCA block, Mayor Jim Langfelder still needs aldermen to give his choice — a park — a final up or down vote.
The process hit a bump on Tuesday when Springfield aldermen voted to table an ordinance that would lease the city-owned downtown block for 10 years to the North Mansion Y-Block Development Group, led by attorney Don Tracy and backed by Gov. Bruce Rauner. The group would raise $8 million in private funds to create and maintain the park.
Belleville News-Democrat: Here's how Belleville's budget will affect your wallet
Belleville’s proposed budget includes funds to improve West Main Street from Sixth to 12th streets, give employees a 3 percent pay raise and increase payments toward the pension fund for police officers and firefighters.
Property tax revenue is used to help fund the police officer and firefighter pensions and the homeowner who claims the owner-occupied exemption on a $100,000 home can expect to pay $58.25 more in city property taxes this year, according to an estimate by the city.
Belleville News-Democrat: Time for SIU to shift resources to Edwardsville campus
Southern Illinois University Carbondale for decades was the star of the local higher education system, with lots of doctoral programs, 42 academic departments, a large resident student population, football and the other trappings of a “real” university.
Southern Illinois University Edwardsville was the red-headed step-child. A commuter school, then a mix of commuters and residents, but never quite gaining the lofty academic reputation of its southern parent institution.