SPRINGFIELD—Illinois Democrats today voted to expand the state’s Medicaid system to include another half-a-million people Illinois cannot afford. State Representative Jim Durkin (R-Western Springs) opposed the bill for one reason-Illinois cannot afford it.
“We worked last year to cut $2.6 billion in Medicaid spending to pay back the state’s unpaid bills. This is the direction we should be moving in and now we are making a detrimental move that will cause Illinois to go further into debt and once again harm the state’s bond rating,” said Durkin.
Just one year ago the Illinois legislature passed the SMART Act which was a comprehensive set of reforms to cut overreaching Medicaid spending and remove individuals from the Medicaid rolls which do not qualify. In the past 10 years, the Medicaid costs have doubled and it now costs taxpayers $11 billion per year which is 1/3 of the state’s total revenue.
“A year ago we voted to scrub individuals from the Medicaid rolls who no longer qualify because it was the only way to save the program,” said Durkin. “Now the majority party wants to add another 500,000 people to Medicaid when we cannot afford those who are currently on Medicaid.”
A recent report from Maximus, the independent contractor hired to review the program, found that of the 73,000 Medicaid cases examined; approximately 48,000 were found to be ineligible. Only roughly 5% of all enrollees were examined. It is estimated that 300,000 or more people are on Illinois Medicaid who do not qualify or no longer qualify.
“Our state is broke, we are expected to end this fiscal year next month with more than a $7 billion backlog of unpaid bills,” said Durkin. “We simply cannot afford to add more individuals and have no guarantee that this will not cost far more than estimated and Illinois taxpayers will undoubtedly be asked to shoulder the responsibility.”
