Lost opportunity for Medicaid reform

by Jonathan Ingram As the Institute reported last week, Republican members of the Illinois House of Representatives filed a resolution urging the federal government to give the state greater flexibility in administering its Medicaid program. That resolution was still stuck in committee on Wednesday, when Represenative Patti Bellock, R-Hinsdale, motioned the full House to bring the resolution...

by Jonathan Ingram

As the Institute reported last week, Republican members of the Illinois House of Representatives filed a resolution urging the federal government to give the state greater flexibility in administering its Medicaid program. That resolution was still stuck in committee on Wednesday, when Represenative Patti Bellock, R-Hinsdale, motioned the full House to bring the resolution to the floor. Sadly, her motion failed 53-59.

The resolution sought freedom to implement the bipartisan anti-fraud reforms that were enacted by Illinois lawmakers but blocked by the Obama administration earlier this year. It’s unfortunate that partisan politics got in the way of implementing reforms that had passed both chambers with near unanimous support. The flexibility sought, if granted, also would have allowed Illinois to begin reforming Medicaid in ways that meet the state’s current circumstances and the needs of its citizens.

Illinois will end the year with $2.4 billion in unpaid Medicaid bills on hand. It will need an extra $3.1 billion next year just to keep the program from falling farther into debt. The state’s low reimbursement rates and long payment delays already force doctors to make Medicaid patients wait weeks or months longer to receive care, if they agree to see them at all.

The only way to ensure that Medicaid is a sustainable program that protects the most vulnerable is to redesign it from the ground up in a way that meets the needs of Illinois’ unique population. A great start is through transforming the broken fee-for-service design into a sliding-scale premium assistance program paired with health savings accounts.

It’s a shame that 59 lawmakers would rather have a program that meets the needs of Washington bureaucrats than one that meets the needs of Illinois citizens.