Keeping people healthier
Your July 5 editorial "Mending Medicaid" challenged the state of Illinois to improve this vital program's efficiency and effectiveness. I want your readers to know that we are meeting that challenge, finding new ways to save money and cut costs while continuing to provide decent health care to more than 2 million children and adults in Illinois.
Through the Medicaid program, Illinois offers health coverage to families with very low incomes and people with significant disabilities, including mental illness. To help us meet our responsibilities to those in need, the federal government this year will provide about $9.2 billion in matching funds -- dollars that help support thousands of health care jobs throughout Illinois.
Without Medicaid, doctors, hospitals and nursing homes that provide care to the poor and uninsured would face even greater uncompensated costs, forcing private health-insurance premiums even higher and resulting in layoffs of doctors, nurses and other health care providers.
As your editorial noted, Gov. Pat Quinn recently signed into law three bills to help fight fraud and bring more transparency to Medicaid spending. We also have other major reforms already under way, including:
Top-to-bottom review to tighten eligibility and enrollment procedures, to make sure everyone who receives Medicaid services meets all state and federal eligibility requirements.
A pay-for-performance initiative for Medicaid providers, so reimbursement will reflect the quality of care they provide.
Transitioning more people who need long-term nursing care from institutions to less costly home- and community-based programs, as recommended by Quinn's Taxpayer Action Board.
Expanded Medicaid managed care for families in Chicago and Cook County.
An innovative managed-care pilot program for seniors and disabled adults in the collar counties.
We also are working statewide to better coordinate all Medicaid health care services -- saving money by preventing unnecessary hospitalizations, emergency-room visits and tests that cost money without improving health.
In this era of national health care reform, our goal is to prove that Illinois' Medicaid program can cut costs while providing higher-quality care and keeping people healthier. We already have taken major steps toward this goal, and I believe we will succeed.
The Chicago Tribune's recent editorial ("A disaster delayed," Editorial, July 9) correctly sounds the alarm about the coming higher medical-malpractice premiums in Illinois as a result of the Illinois Supreme Court's decision to strike down the state's medical-malpractice reform law.
Premiums are stabilized right now, but as the editorial notes, "it's the calm before the storm." Medical-malpractice premiums will likely increase in response to more lawsuits and higher judgments and settlements.
Unfortunately a legislative solution seems out of reach for the foreseeable future.
But this does not mean we have to let the four justices who voted to strike down the medical-malpractice law have the last word. Three of the four justices who voted to strike down the medical-malpractice reform law are up for retention this November.
Good judges do matter.
A judge has the power to on the one hand provide protection for those who have been harmed and on the other hand dispose of frivolous lawsuits that clog our courts. Good judges strive to wield this power wisely, which is why we as citizens need to pay attention to the individuals we elect to serve on the bench.
The high-profile races for governor and the U.S. Senate will dominate the news cycle, but we as a citizens have the right and the responsibility to educate ourselves about the judicial candidates on our ballots.
The great ship called America is sinking.
Not because greedy mortgage lenders allowed people to buy homes they could not possibly afford, which caused the ship to hit an iceberg and break a hole into its side.
Not because illegal immigrants are not allowed to get into a lifeboat.
Not because elected politicians used money, graft and greed to be able to grab all the lifesaver vests.
The ship is angling down on one side, which is sinking lower by the minute, because that side is loaded with guns.
Many requirements were issued to those bringing guns aboard.
All handguns had to be registered with the police department.
Fingerprints and background checks were to take place.
They had to get an owner's ID card, submit two pictures taken in the last 30 days, etc.
Is anybody laughing like I am?
The real facts of the matter are that, if those who want guns for murder, robberies, revenge or for gangs, etc., there is no way such culprits are going to bother with all those and many more issued requirements.
To me, the real question remains: When is the Supreme Court going to join the 21st century?
If it thinks that Americans must have the right to own guns to protect themselves, then "civilization" as we thought we knew it, does not exist.
This is regarding columnist Charles Krauthammer's "Obama is modest about U.S., not himself" (Commentary, July 12). While Krauthammer touts American exceptionalism, history has proved that similar views have led to triumph and tragedy. By challenging America, President John F. Kennedy did spearhead astronauts toward the moon, but he also stated in his grandiose inaugural address that America would "pay any price, bear any burden... to assure the survival and the success of liberty." The war in Vietnam ultimately proved that some burdens were too difficult to manage and some prices too high to pay. Likewise President Lyndon B. Johnson wanted to herald a Great Society that would rival and surpass the New Deal, cementing his historical legacy as the greatest reform president in American history. Unfortunately, fighting a war in Southeast Asia, while promoting an expensive program to end poverty in America, proved to be an illusion.
American presidents have an obligation to inspire Americans, to bring out as Abraham Lincoln said "the better angels of our nature." However, presidents, when acting as motivators-in-chief, must also temper their words, recognizing the limits of American power and influence by advancing programs and policies that are practical.