Medicaid Illinois Fiscal year 2010 budget

The General Assembly recently approved a “50-percent budget” for the twelve-month period beginning July 1, 2009. That fiscal year 2010 budget underfunds a long list of vital services and programs, including the medical assistance programs administered by the Department. The General Assembly’s “50 percent budget” cut over $1.4 billion from the Department’s budget.

Programs currently slated for reduction include:

• The Illinois Cares Rx program, paying for the pharmacy bills of nearly 200,000 seniors and people with disabilities.
• The AllKids expansion program, and the AllKids Rebate program, paying for providing care to over 73,700 children not otherwise provided medical coverage under Medicaid or CHIPRA.
• The Renal, Hemophilia, and Sexual Assault Survivors programs, covering specialized care for nearly 1,500 people.
• The General Assistance medical program, paying for healthcare for nearly 8,600 adults in Chicago.

Even with these cuts, the budget as passed will unfortunately mean an increase in the length of time in which the state can pay certain providers-in some cases adding more than 200 days to the amount of time it will take the State to make payments for the services that you have provided. The budget request introduced by the Governor allowed all of the Department’s medical assistance providers to be paid in 30 days or less.