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The Future of Health Care in Illinois May Be in Jeopardy

As you probably know, in an attempt to balance the state's budget, Governor Ryan has cut $100 million from the Illinois Medicaid hospital reimbursement program this year and a total of $200 million next year.

Illinois currently ranks at or near the bottom of U.S. states committed to providing health-care financial support for those citizens who need it most. According to the Illinois Hospital and Health Systems Association, Medicaid payments to Illinois hospitals cover only 75 percent of the actual cost of treatment, compared with the national average of 96 percent. As a consequence, Illinois hospitals must make up the difference. At the same time, overall hospital expenses continue to rise. The state's proposed reductions would place an additional financial strain on Illinois hospitals that receive Medicaid dollars. In effect, the Medicaid budget will jeopardize the survival of hospitals that are trying to care for those in need.

To date, more than 70 percent of the hospitals across the state are losing money and have been the target of decreased state funding for the past decade. Understandably, they can no longer absorb the impact of shrinking reimbursements from the state's Medicaid program. Shifting the cost of care for the state's poor to hospitals that already provide continued care for the uninsured is not only unfair, but it also exemplifies the chronic problem of inadequate health-care planning in Illinois.

What will this mean for the general public? Residents of Illinois will most likely see a reduction in or, in some cases, a complete elimination of health-care services in their communities.

Loyola University Health System remains committed to caring for all citizens of Illinois. We do this on a daily basis by treating patients with serious and complex health issues through our level-one trauma center, our burn center, our perinatal center, our children's hospital, and as a desig-nated hospital for the state's emergency management response system. In 2001, Loyola provided more than $30.7 million in charity and uncompensated care to citizens of Illinois. The Medicaid budget cuts will not only force us to reduce our expenses by more than $9 million for the next fiscal year but also will force us to eliminate a number of medical services.

At Loyola, we continue to remain diligent about this issue. Our leaders, as well as leaders from hospitals and health systems across the state, have contacted our state representatives to voice our concern about the proposed cuts and the impact the cuts will have on the communities we serve. A program was held on our campus, sponsored by Congressman Danny K. Davis and other government representatives, that provided a forum for leaders in health care, service agencies and community groups to discuss the effects of the cuts and look for possible solutions to the crisis we face.

I encourage every citizen in the state of Illinois to "be heard" on this matter of vital importance to all Illinois residents. Individuals can make a difference by writing or e-mailing state and federal officials. State lawmakers are in a unique position to protect the traditionally disenfranchised and the neediest members of our society by preserving reimbursements to the hospitals that serve them.

For more information, go to www.luhs.org and click on the "Protest Medicaid Cuts" link. You will find sample letters and can locate the addresses of your representatives by following the links. If you do not have access to the Internet and would like information including prepared letters or postcards, please visit our campus in Maywood or any of our primary care sites. There are "STOP Medicaid Cutbacks NOW" posters and materials at every main entrance.

We join forces with all the hospitals in our state to ask our legislators to reconsider this issue and to do the right thing for the citizens of Illinois.

Anthony L. Barbato, M.D.
President and Chief Executive Officer
Loyola University Health System
Loyola University Medical Center

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