On July 14, 2010, Cook County Commissioners approved by a vote of 9 to 3 a strategic plan to reorient the County’s health system more toward outpatient care and away from inpatient hospital services. The five-year plan calls for closing…
This editorial discusses recent efforts to reform Illinois’ Medicaid system. It cites a finding in the Civic Federation’s “Fiscal Rehabilitation Plan for…
The State of Illinois is not the only cash-strapped state that shied away from major tax increases to improve its financial condition in FY2011. According to Stateline.…
Illinois and many other states drafted budget plans for FY2011 based on the assumption that Congress would extend the expiration date for enhanced federal Medicaid funding by six months—from December 31, 2010 to June 30, 2011. Now that…
In a victory for good government, the Cook County Board of Commissioners on June 1, 2010 voted 13-3 to make permanent the independent Board of Directors overseeing the…
As the General Assembly nears the final days of this year’s regular session with no FY2011 budget in sight, a group of lawmakers is attempting to advance the negotiations by…
The Civic Federation opposes Governor Pat Quinn’s $52 billion FY2011 recommended operating budget for the State of Illinois because it is unbalanced and does too little to address the State’s fiscal crisis. The Governor’s recommended…
The State of Illinois currently pays the entire bill for health insurance premiums for 90% of retired state workers. Under Illinois law, retirees with at least 20 years of…
Federal healthcare reform could increase the State of Illinois’ Medicaid enrollment by 400,000 to 600,000 recipients beginning in 2014, but the federal government is expected to pay nearly all the additional cost for newly eligible…
Governor Pat Quinn’s recommended FY2011 budget, issued on March 10, 2010, proposes borrowing $4.7 billion to cover FY2011’s projected operating deficit. No details about the Governor’s borrowing plan have yet been made available. However,…
