HR1233 LRB094 20366 DRJ 58491 r

1
HOUSE RESOLUTION

 
2     WHEREAS, Medical schedule reports from the Department of
3 Healthcare and Family Services state that as of April 7, 2006
4 nearly $1.5 billion dollars in unpaid Medicaid claims are
5 pending; and
 
6     WHEREAS, Because Illinois is so far behind on paying
7 Medicaid bills, doctors, pharmacies, hospitals, and other
8 medical providers are faced with the decision to limit care
9 provided to Medicaid-covered individuals or find ways to remain
10 economically viable such as securing loans and exhausting lines
11 of credit; and
 
12     WHEREAS, The amount of unpaid Medicaid bills at the end of
13 FY 2006 is expected to continue to grow to a total of $1.8
14 billion, representing the highest level of unpaid Medicaid
15 bills ever pushed off by the State of Illinois into the next
16 fiscal year; and
 
17     WHEREAS, The payment cycle for Medicaid providers is
18 expected to grow to an average of 79 days by the end of FY 2006,
19 and the cycle for non-expedited providers will be considerably
20 higher considering that some providers are promised payments
21 based on a 30-day payment cycle; and
 
22     WHEREAS, The FY 2006 budget under-funded pensions by $1.2
23 billion compared to the funding schedule established by the
24 1995 Pension Funding Law; and
 
25     WHEREAS, Estimates indicate that the FY 2007 budget will
26 under-fund pensions by another $1.1 billion, bringing the
27 two-year pension diversion to a total of $2.3 billion; and
 
28     WHEREAS, Even though $2.3 billion in funding has been
29 diverted from the funding of pensions, the Medicaid payment

 

 

HR1233 - 2 - LRB094 20366 DRJ 58491 r

1 cycle and bills on hand at the end of the fiscal year have
2 increased for FY 2006 and in the proposed budget for FY 2007;
3 and
 
4     WHEREAS, At the same time that Medicaid bills go unpaid and
5 pensions go under-funded, recent budgets have contained
6 funding for member initiatives and special add-on projects
7 benefiting only a small portion of the State; therefore, be it
 
8     RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE
9 NINETY-FOURTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that
10 until sufficient funding is appropriated to bring the Medicaid
11 payments cycle down to an average of 30 days and pensions are
12 funded based on a funding schedule consistent with the
13 guidelines of the original 1995 Pension Funding Law, future
14 budgets should not contain appropriations for member
15 initiatives or special add-on projects benefiting only a small
16 portion of the State; and be it further
 
17     RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be
18 presented to the Governor of the State of Illinois.