State’s Bill Backlog Could Grow If Medicaid Expands
From the Associated Press
An expansion of Medicaid under President Barack Obama's health care overhaul could increase Illinois' existing backlog of overdue bills and result in even longer payment delays to the state's service providers, according to a health care expert.
The (Springfield) State Journal-Register reported Monday that starting in 2014, an estimated 342,000 uninsured Illinois residents would be newly eligible for coverage if lawmakers approve expansion of the health care program for the poor and disabled.
A critic of the expansion plan, which would be fully subsidized by the federal government for the first three years, said it would mean an even longer payback period for the state's $9 billion backlog of past-due bills.
"Before you go expanding and taking on additional liability you need to make sure that the people who are already on the rolls are taken care of, and that's not what's happening," said Pat Comstock, executive director of the Health Care Council of Illinois.
Under Obama's Affordable Care Act, which aims to provide health insurance for everyone, Medicaid would be expanded to reach more people. The federal government would pay for the state expansion in full for the first three years, and then 90 percent of it until 2020.
Read more in our daily News Update...
From the Associated Press
An expansion of Medicaid under President Barack Obama's health care overhaul could increase Illinois' existing backlog of overdue bills and result in even longer payment delays to the state's service providers, according to a health care expert.
The (Springfield) State Journal-Register reported Monday that starting in 2014, an estimated 342,000 uninsured Illinois residents would be newly eligible for coverage if lawmakers approve expansion of the health care program for the poor and disabled.
A critic of the expansion plan, which would be fully subsidized by the federal government for the first three years, said it would mean an even longer payback period for the state's $9 billion backlog of past-due bills.
"Before you go expanding and taking on additional liability you need to make sure that the people who are already on the rolls are taken care of, and that's not what's happening," said Pat Comstock, executive director of the Health Care Council of Illinois.
Under Obama's Affordable Care Act, which aims to provide health insurance for everyone, Medicaid would be expanded to reach more people. The federal government would pay for the state expansion in full for the first three years, and then 90 percent of it until 2020.
Read more in our daily News Update...