| THE SCHOCK REPORT | ||||||
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Dear Friends,
I have been sounding the alarm about the mounting budget pressures facing Illinois taxpayers on the duel threat of expanding Medicaid costs and the implementation of the federal Affordable Care Act (President Obama's signature health care plan.)
In April, Illinois House Leader Tom Cross and I embarked on a statewide tour to raise awareness of these twin threats, and I am proud to announce we have already been successful. The good news is that the Illinois Legislature recently announced they will delay a vote on a critical part of President Obama's health care law to create a costly state insurance exchange program. Also last week, the U.S.House voted to repeal the Illinois budget busting Medicaid Maintenance of Effort (MOE) mandate that is required in the President's health law. This week, to follow up on the actions taken in the House, I spearheaded a letter with ten Republican members of the IL Congressional delegation and all 54 Illinois Republican State Representatives in demanding that the U.S. Senate act and vote to repeal the MOE requirement immediately. I believe that the Affordable Care Act has hurt job creation, burdened small businesses, put government bureaucrats between patients and their doctors, and taken the flexibility away from states like Illinois to make their own health care decisions. What needs to happen next is for the Senate to repeal the Medicaid Maintenance of Effort mandate immediately. Also, the Quinn Administration should secure the federal waiver needed to implement cost-saving bipartisan reforms that were enacted last year by the Illinois Legislature without the threat of losing its share of Medicaid funds: reforms which would allow the state the flexibility it needs to ensure Medicaid expansion costs don't destroy the state budget, and to allow proof of income verification for all Medicaid applicants so that we can reduce fraud and abuse in the system. In 2012, the Civic Federation, based in Chicago, warned that Illinois will face a $38.4 billion backlog of unpaid bills if no action is taken to reform Medicaid. Using the Department of Healthcare and Family Services' own projections, Medicaid will increase by more than 40% over the next five years - from $8.6 billion to $12.1 billion. These are unmanageable figures for a state budget already in trouble. While we have been successful already, there is still plenty of work to be done. I will continue my fight to ensure Illinois is given the flexibility it needs to make the health care decisions that are in the best interest of our state. Respectfully,
Aaron
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