Registration for Work Incentive Seminar Events (WISE)
Are you interested in learning about how work will affect your Social Security benefits?
If you are interested in learning about the Ticket to Work Program or Work Incentives, you can attend a free Work Incentive Seminar Event (WISE) online webinar.
WISE webinars are online events held for beneficiaries to learn about the Ticket to Work Program and available Work Incentives through accessible learning opportunities. WISE webinars are hosted on the fourth Wednesday of each month.
Meeting Date: 02/29/2012
Meeting Time: 1:00 PM - 2:30 PM Eastern
Meeting Name: 2/29/2012 You Asked. We Answer. Work Incentives That Work For You.
To sign up for a WISE webinar, please visit:
http://www.chooseworkttw.net/wise/jsp/webinarInfo.jsp
Wednesday, February 22, 2012
Mental-Health Cuts by U.S. States Risk Boosting Health Costs | Feb 22, 2012
By Melissa Silverberg and Bob Kazel | Bloomberg
Feb. 22 (Bloomberg) -- U.S. states looking to balance budgets by cutting mental-health facilities and Medicaid payments risk increasing health-care costs by pushing psychiatric patients into emergency rooms.
States trimmed 9.5 percent, or more than $1.6 billion, from their mental-health spending from fiscal 2009 to 2012, according to the National Alliance on Mental Illness. The coming budget year will be worse in some states, with Illinois looking to shutter two psychiatric hospitals and Alabama planning to close all of its except for one serving the elderly and another treating criminal cases.
If patients can’t find free or low-cost outpatient psychiatric care due to government cutbacks, they may swamp emergency rooms and raise health-care costs for all patients, said Dr. William Sullivan, an ER physician at University of Illinois Medical Center in Chicago.
“Saying that they’re going to save money doing this is kind of short-sighted,” Sullivan said. Patients “just don’t disappear. Their problems don’t get better. They go somewhere for care.” Chicago’s Public Health Department will shutter half its 12 psychiatric clinics by the end of April, and the state will close as many as two hospitals in the coming budget year. The measures are in addition to state trims in Medicaid that Governor Pat Quinn, a Democrat, is expected to announce today in his fiscal 2013 budget address.
‘Catastrophic’ Danger
The Alabama Mental Health Department last week announced plans to close four psychiatric hospitals by May 2013. The nearly 1,000 patients still in state-run hospitals will be moved to private-care providers or group homes, said James Tucker, associate director for the Alabama Disabilities Advocacy Program.
While the shift merely accelerates a longer-term trend of moving the mentally ill out of state facilities, Tucker said it could cause “catastrophic” results for those patients and raise health-care costs.
“Alabama could see a significant increase in the number of involuntary civil commitments, so there would actually end up being a need for new hospital beds,” Tucker said. “It could completely backfire. There’s a real threat to patient safety here.”
South Carolina Cuts
South Carolina, Alabama and Alaska lead the states for mental-health spending cuts since 2009, according to a national report issued in November by the Arlington, Virginia-based National Alliance on Mental Illness. South Carolina has reduced its budget by more than 39 percent, Alabama 36 percent and Alaska more than 32 percent.
“We saw cuts on a scale we’ve never seen before,” said Mike Fitzpatrick, NAMI’s executive director. “It was devastating.”
Illinois’ mental-health spending declined 12 percent to $520 million in fiscal 2012 from $591 million in 2009, according to NAMI Illinois, a patient advocacy group that’s part of the national alliance.
Illinois’ trims were among the deepest cutbacks in the U.S. and reflected worsening care for low-income, jobless and uninsured psychiatric patients across the U.S., said Dr. Michael Wahl, president of the Illinois College of Emergency Physicians.
“This is a huge issue that affects access to care to all,” said Wahl, whose group represents more than 1,200 doctors. “It’s like the pebble in the pond. The ripples go out and affect all.”
ER Overload
More use of ERs by people with mental illness, Wahl said, could mean additional overcrowding and make it harder for doctors to promptly see those who can pay, those with private insurance, and patients with nonpsychiatric illnesses and injuries. It also puts further strain on hospitals already struggling with balance-sheet pressure due to state reimbursement cuts to providers. In July, Illinois plans to close its Tinley Park Mental Health Center in south suburban Chicago. The facility serves only 50 patients yet costs the state more than $20 million a year to operate. Yesterday, Quinn administration officials said they would also seek to close Singer Mental Health Center in Rockford in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2013. Illinois now runs nine mental hospitals. “The state is in terrible financial shape,” said MaryLynn McGuire Clarke, senior director at the Illinois Hospital Association. “Tough times mean tough decisions. But you still hope the most vulnerable among us will get the care they need, because the illness doesn’t go away.”
Looking Elsewhere
The six Chicago centers slated for closing serve about 5,300 people, most with no health insurance or receiving Medicaid, the joint state-federal health-care program for the poor. Many patients who can’t get care at the remaining clinics will be asked to seek treatment at nongovernment community health centers or with private doctors and therapists. More admissions to emergency rooms could further test the financial health of hospitals, which consider that care a public service and not a money maker, said Wahl, an ER doctor at Evanston Hospital in north suburban Chicago. When psychiatric patients use the ER, costs may include security guards, social workers and sometimes “sitters” to accompany them on a medical floor if a psychiatric bed is unavailable. “You can’t bill for a sitter’s time or security time,” Wahl said. “It’s expected of the hospital. It’s a significant expense. It adds up.”
‘Falling Through Cracks’
A patient who gets treatment at one of the Chicago-run clinics set to close, Jacob Aronov, 56, said he has been going there about 10 years. The closest remaining one is an hour away by elevated train and bus; his current clinic is a short walk from his North Side apartment. He has glaucoma, and the longer trip will be more difficult. Aronov said he worried about interrupting his established therapeutic relationships and finding providers within a reasonable distance who accept Medicaid. “It will make it harder to make an appointment,” he said. “Some of the patients won’t get help, and will wind up falling through the cracks.” Most users of the clinics that are closing can still find care, said Dr. Bechara Choucair, commissioner of the city’s Public Health Department. He acknowledged that some would have to travel farther, but said his office would pay their public transportation.
About 1,100 Affected
About 1,100 patients cut from the clinics -- mainly those with government insurance -- will be able to go to community mental-health agencies not operated by the city, he said.
Some patients who will have to travel farther will wait until problems are serious enough for an ER, said Dr. Leslie Zun, chairman of emergency medicine at Mt. Sinai Hospital in Chicago, who has studied the issue.
ERs increasingly can’t find other hospitals to absorb psychiatric patients. The number of inpatient psychiatric beds in Illinois has dropped 28 percent in the past 10 years, according to the state hospital association. A nationwide study by the Lafayette, Louisiana-based Schumacher Group, an ER management firm, found 70 percent of ER administrators say they’re keeping psychiatric patients for at least 24 hours because they can’t be admitted or transferred. Ten percent reported boarding them as long as a week. Governor Quinn warned this month that Illinois might have to “step on the toes” of medical providers and offer still- lower reimbursement rates to trim spending, by about $2.7 billion, his administration has said.
Many doctors and counselors already resist taking Medicaid, in part because of relatively low fee schedules and tardy payments, said Fitzpatrick, the NAMI executive director.
“If you’re going to cut the reimbursements one more time, fewer docs are going to be willing to take Medicaid clients,” he said.
--With assistance from Tim Jones in Springfield, Illinois. Editors: Flynn McRoberts, Stephen Merelman.
To contact the reporters on this story: Melissa Silverberg and Bob Kazel in Chicago through Fmcroberts1@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Flynn McRoberts in Chicago at fmcroberts1@bloomberg.net.
# http://www.businessweek.com/news/2012-02-22/mental-health-cuts-by-u-s-states-risk-boosting-health-costs.html
Feb. 22 (Bloomberg) -- U.S. states looking to balance budgets by cutting mental-health facilities and Medicaid payments risk increasing health-care costs by pushing psychiatric patients into emergency rooms.
States trimmed 9.5 percent, or more than $1.6 billion, from their mental-health spending from fiscal 2009 to 2012, according to the National Alliance on Mental Illness. The coming budget year will be worse in some states, with Illinois looking to shutter two psychiatric hospitals and Alabama planning to close all of its except for one serving the elderly and another treating criminal cases.
If patients can’t find free or low-cost outpatient psychiatric care due to government cutbacks, they may swamp emergency rooms and raise health-care costs for all patients, said Dr. William Sullivan, an ER physician at University of Illinois Medical Center in Chicago.
“Saying that they’re going to save money doing this is kind of short-sighted,” Sullivan said. Patients “just don’t disappear. Their problems don’t get better. They go somewhere for care.” Chicago’s Public Health Department will shutter half its 12 psychiatric clinics by the end of April, and the state will close as many as two hospitals in the coming budget year. The measures are in addition to state trims in Medicaid that Governor Pat Quinn, a Democrat, is expected to announce today in his fiscal 2013 budget address.
‘Catastrophic’ Danger
The Alabama Mental Health Department last week announced plans to close four psychiatric hospitals by May 2013. The nearly 1,000 patients still in state-run hospitals will be moved to private-care providers or group homes, said James Tucker, associate director for the Alabama Disabilities Advocacy Program.
While the shift merely accelerates a longer-term trend of moving the mentally ill out of state facilities, Tucker said it could cause “catastrophic” results for those patients and raise health-care costs.
“Alabama could see a significant increase in the number of involuntary civil commitments, so there would actually end up being a need for new hospital beds,” Tucker said. “It could completely backfire. There’s a real threat to patient safety here.”
South Carolina Cuts
South Carolina, Alabama and Alaska lead the states for mental-health spending cuts since 2009, according to a national report issued in November by the Arlington, Virginia-based National Alliance on Mental Illness. South Carolina has reduced its budget by more than 39 percent, Alabama 36 percent and Alaska more than 32 percent.
“We saw cuts on a scale we’ve never seen before,” said Mike Fitzpatrick, NAMI’s executive director. “It was devastating.”
Illinois’ mental-health spending declined 12 percent to $520 million in fiscal 2012 from $591 million in 2009, according to NAMI Illinois, a patient advocacy group that’s part of the national alliance.
Illinois’ trims were among the deepest cutbacks in the U.S. and reflected worsening care for low-income, jobless and uninsured psychiatric patients across the U.S., said Dr. Michael Wahl, president of the Illinois College of Emergency Physicians.
“This is a huge issue that affects access to care to all,” said Wahl, whose group represents more than 1,200 doctors. “It’s like the pebble in the pond. The ripples go out and affect all.”
ER Overload
More use of ERs by people with mental illness, Wahl said, could mean additional overcrowding and make it harder for doctors to promptly see those who can pay, those with private insurance, and patients with nonpsychiatric illnesses and injuries. It also puts further strain on hospitals already struggling with balance-sheet pressure due to state reimbursement cuts to providers. In July, Illinois plans to close its Tinley Park Mental Health Center in south suburban Chicago. The facility serves only 50 patients yet costs the state more than $20 million a year to operate. Yesterday, Quinn administration officials said they would also seek to close Singer Mental Health Center in Rockford in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2013. Illinois now runs nine mental hospitals. “The state is in terrible financial shape,” said MaryLynn McGuire Clarke, senior director at the Illinois Hospital Association. “Tough times mean tough decisions. But you still hope the most vulnerable among us will get the care they need, because the illness doesn’t go away.”
Looking Elsewhere
The six Chicago centers slated for closing serve about 5,300 people, most with no health insurance or receiving Medicaid, the joint state-federal health-care program for the poor. Many patients who can’t get care at the remaining clinics will be asked to seek treatment at nongovernment community health centers or with private doctors and therapists. More admissions to emergency rooms could further test the financial health of hospitals, which consider that care a public service and not a money maker, said Wahl, an ER doctor at Evanston Hospital in north suburban Chicago. When psychiatric patients use the ER, costs may include security guards, social workers and sometimes “sitters” to accompany them on a medical floor if a psychiatric bed is unavailable. “You can’t bill for a sitter’s time or security time,” Wahl said. “It’s expected of the hospital. It’s a significant expense. It adds up.”
‘Falling Through Cracks’
A patient who gets treatment at one of the Chicago-run clinics set to close, Jacob Aronov, 56, said he has been going there about 10 years. The closest remaining one is an hour away by elevated train and bus; his current clinic is a short walk from his North Side apartment. He has glaucoma, and the longer trip will be more difficult. Aronov said he worried about interrupting his established therapeutic relationships and finding providers within a reasonable distance who accept Medicaid. “It will make it harder to make an appointment,” he said. “Some of the patients won’t get help, and will wind up falling through the cracks.” Most users of the clinics that are closing can still find care, said Dr. Bechara Choucair, commissioner of the city’s Public Health Department. He acknowledged that some would have to travel farther, but said his office would pay their public transportation.
About 1,100 Affected
About 1,100 patients cut from the clinics -- mainly those with government insurance -- will be able to go to community mental-health agencies not operated by the city, he said.
Some patients who will have to travel farther will wait until problems are serious enough for an ER, said Dr. Leslie Zun, chairman of emergency medicine at Mt. Sinai Hospital in Chicago, who has studied the issue.
ERs increasingly can’t find other hospitals to absorb psychiatric patients. The number of inpatient psychiatric beds in Illinois has dropped 28 percent in the past 10 years, according to the state hospital association. A nationwide study by the Lafayette, Louisiana-based Schumacher Group, an ER management firm, found 70 percent of ER administrators say they’re keeping psychiatric patients for at least 24 hours because they can’t be admitted or transferred. Ten percent reported boarding them as long as a week. Governor Quinn warned this month that Illinois might have to “step on the toes” of medical providers and offer still- lower reimbursement rates to trim spending, by about $2.7 billion, his administration has said.
Many doctors and counselors already resist taking Medicaid, in part because of relatively low fee schedules and tardy payments, said Fitzpatrick, the NAMI executive director.
“If you’re going to cut the reimbursements one more time, fewer docs are going to be willing to take Medicaid clients,” he said.
--With assistance from Tim Jones in Springfield, Illinois. Editors: Flynn McRoberts, Stephen Merelman.
To contact the reporters on this story: Melissa Silverberg and Bob Kazel in Chicago through Fmcroberts1@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Flynn McRoberts in Chicago at fmcroberts1@bloomberg.net.
# http://www.businessweek.com/news/2012-02-22/mental-health-cuts-by-u-s-states-risk-boosting-health-costs.html
Illinois Gov Quinn Delivers Budget Address - Reduces Discretionary Spending to Below 2008 Levels | Feb 22, 2012
Press Release
Governor Quinn Delivers Budget Address Reduces Discretionary Spending to Below 2008 Levels; Cuts FY2013 Agency Spending by $425M
SPRINGFIELD - February 22, 2012. Governor Pat Quinn today delivered his fiscal year 2013 budget address to the Illinois General Assembly, a plan for budget stability through major reductions and efficiencies, pension and Medicaid stabilization, fundamental tax reform and jobs and economic growth. The Governor proposed a budget that takes necessary steps to restore fiscal stability to Illinois, ensure job growth and a strong education for children across the state.
“The truth is that over the past 35 years, too many governors and members of the General Assembly have clung to budget fantasies rather than confronting hard realities, especially when it comes to our pension and Medicaid investments,” Governor Quinn said. “Today I am proposing a budget that includes serious spending reductions and major reforms in order to restore fiscal stability to our state and build and grow our economy.”
The Governor’s budget has reduced discretionary spending to below 2008 levels. Agency spending has been cut by more than $425M since Fiscal Year 2012. Governor Quinn’s introduced budget is based upon Budgeting for Results. The new budgeting process ensures that the proposed budget is based on existing revenues, funding policy priorities that are most important to helping move Illinois forward and ensuring that taxpayer dollars are spent wisely.
Spending Reductions and Efficiencies
Since taking office, Governor Quinn has significantly reduced discretionary spending, achieving more reductions than any Governor in recent memory. In 2008, general funds were $25.7 billion. The Governor’s introduced budget of $24.8 billion is a 3.6 percent decrease, bringing general funds below 2008 levels. The Governor is calling for most agency budgets to be reduced by at least 9 percent. The Governor cut his own budget by 9 percent and asked all constitutional officers to do the same.
Under Governor Quinn, the state has already realized close to $200 million in annual savings by reducing the number of state employees by more than 2,200 since January of 2009. Today, the Governor announced plans to further reduce state employee headcount by more than 700.
The state has consolidated and eliminated lease space, primarily in the Chicago area, saving more than $43 million with more savings expected during fiscal year 2013. At Governor Quinn’s direction, a number of state agencies will reduce or consolidate facilities. During the coming year, 59 state facilities, offices, garages and other governmental buildings will close.
Pension and Medicaid Stabilization
The state’s pension and Medicaid systems are the greatest financial pressure on Illinois’ budget, and limit the ability to provide core services that people throughout the state depend upon.
For decades, the necessary payments were not made to the pension system, and increased benefits were promised without sufficient revenue to pay for those benefits. As a result, Illinois’ pension system is now under-funded by $83 billion. For the past three years, Governor Quinn has paid exactly what the law required into the pension system.
To address Illinois’ unfunded liability, Governor Quinn has convened a working group to deliver a proposal by April 17 to repair the state’s pension systems. At the Governor’s direction, everything is on the table including historical funding practices, employer contributions, employee contributions, the retirement age and the cost of living adjustment.
The Governor and his administration have also developed a roadmap for Medicaid restructuring. Today, the Governor pledged that his administration will work with the General Assembly to find a combination of liability reductions, modernized eligibility standards, utilization controls, rate reduction and reform, acceleration of integrated managed care, and coordination of long-term care programs to manage Medicaid spending.
Last year’s Medicaid appropriation fell nearly $2 billion short, which means that at the end of this fiscal year, the state will owe $1.9 billion in unpaid Medicaid bills. The combination of Medicaid bills deferred to future years, the expiration of federal stimulus, enrollment growth resulting from the recession and Illinois’ fee-for-service system has led to unsustainable growth in Medicaid spending. The Governor has therefore proposed cutting $2.7 billion in order to ensure that the state’s Medicaid program can be returned to sustainability and continue delivering essential medical services for those that need them.
Rebalancing
Governor Quinn also reaffirmed his commitment to rebalancing the way Illinois cares for individuals with developmental disabilities and mental illness to improve their quality of life. The FY 13 budget includes funding to ensure smooth transitions and coordinated care as individuals move from costly institutions to supportive community settings.
The Governor today announced plans to close two additional centers, Murray Developmental Center and Singer Mental Health Center, over the course of the next fiscal year. Through this rebalancing process, the administration will comply with all consent decrees, provide individualized care and ultimately achieve savings for the state.
Tax Reform
For far too long, the Illinois Revenue Code has included many loopholes that are based on politics – not economics. Today, Governor Quinn directed a thorough search of the Illinois Revenue Code for unnecessary loopholes that do not efficiently support jobs and economic growth.
The Governor has instructed Revenue Director, Brian Hamer to meet with legislative leaders of both houses and parties to identify and close unfair loopholes. Loophole revenue can be used to pay down the state’s backlog of bills and provide targeted tax relief for hard-working families and businesses.
Investing in Education
In today’s budget address, Governor Quinn reiterated his commitment to education, jobs and economic growth. To move Illinois forward, we must ensure that we are providing all Illinois students with a high-quality education and preparing our workers for the jobs of today and tomorrow.
The Governor’s budget maintains funding for K-12 and higher education. In addition, the state will increase early childhood funding by $20 million. The Monetary Award Program (MAP), which provides college scholarships for needy students, will also see a funding increase of more than $50 million during fiscal year 2013 to help deserving students achieve higher degrees.
For more information and copies of Governor Quinn’s operating and capital budget proposals for fiscal year 2013, please visit Budget.Illinois.gov.
Related Documents
Efficiencies Fact Sheet : http://www2.illinois.gov/budget/Documents/Budget%20Book/FY%202013/FINAL%20Efficiencies%20Fact%20Sheet%20-%20FY2013%20Budget.pdf
Rebalancing Fact Sheet :
http://www2.illinois.gov/budget/Documents/Budget%20Book/FY%202013/FINAL%20Rebalancing%20Fact%20Sheet%20-%20FY2013%20Budget.pdf
Governor Quinn Delivers Budget Address Reduces Discretionary Spending to Below 2008 Levels; Cuts FY2013 Agency Spending by $425M
SPRINGFIELD - February 22, 2012. Governor Pat Quinn today delivered his fiscal year 2013 budget address to the Illinois General Assembly, a plan for budget stability through major reductions and efficiencies, pension and Medicaid stabilization, fundamental tax reform and jobs and economic growth. The Governor proposed a budget that takes necessary steps to restore fiscal stability to Illinois, ensure job growth and a strong education for children across the state.
“The truth is that over the past 35 years, too many governors and members of the General Assembly have clung to budget fantasies rather than confronting hard realities, especially when it comes to our pension and Medicaid investments,” Governor Quinn said. “Today I am proposing a budget that includes serious spending reductions and major reforms in order to restore fiscal stability to our state and build and grow our economy.”
The Governor’s budget has reduced discretionary spending to below 2008 levels. Agency spending has been cut by more than $425M since Fiscal Year 2012. Governor Quinn’s introduced budget is based upon Budgeting for Results. The new budgeting process ensures that the proposed budget is based on existing revenues, funding policy priorities that are most important to helping move Illinois forward and ensuring that taxpayer dollars are spent wisely.
Spending Reductions and Efficiencies
Since taking office, Governor Quinn has significantly reduced discretionary spending, achieving more reductions than any Governor in recent memory. In 2008, general funds were $25.7 billion. The Governor’s introduced budget of $24.8 billion is a 3.6 percent decrease, bringing general funds below 2008 levels. The Governor is calling for most agency budgets to be reduced by at least 9 percent. The Governor cut his own budget by 9 percent and asked all constitutional officers to do the same.
Under Governor Quinn, the state has already realized close to $200 million in annual savings by reducing the number of state employees by more than 2,200 since January of 2009. Today, the Governor announced plans to further reduce state employee headcount by more than 700.
The state has consolidated and eliminated lease space, primarily in the Chicago area, saving more than $43 million with more savings expected during fiscal year 2013. At Governor Quinn’s direction, a number of state agencies will reduce or consolidate facilities. During the coming year, 59 state facilities, offices, garages and other governmental buildings will close.
Pension and Medicaid Stabilization
The state’s pension and Medicaid systems are the greatest financial pressure on Illinois’ budget, and limit the ability to provide core services that people throughout the state depend upon.
For decades, the necessary payments were not made to the pension system, and increased benefits were promised without sufficient revenue to pay for those benefits. As a result, Illinois’ pension system is now under-funded by $83 billion. For the past three years, Governor Quinn has paid exactly what the law required into the pension system.
To address Illinois’ unfunded liability, Governor Quinn has convened a working group to deliver a proposal by April 17 to repair the state’s pension systems. At the Governor’s direction, everything is on the table including historical funding practices, employer contributions, employee contributions, the retirement age and the cost of living adjustment.
The Governor and his administration have also developed a roadmap for Medicaid restructuring. Today, the Governor pledged that his administration will work with the General Assembly to find a combination of liability reductions, modernized eligibility standards, utilization controls, rate reduction and reform, acceleration of integrated managed care, and coordination of long-term care programs to manage Medicaid spending.
Last year’s Medicaid appropriation fell nearly $2 billion short, which means that at the end of this fiscal year, the state will owe $1.9 billion in unpaid Medicaid bills. The combination of Medicaid bills deferred to future years, the expiration of federal stimulus, enrollment growth resulting from the recession and Illinois’ fee-for-service system has led to unsustainable growth in Medicaid spending. The Governor has therefore proposed cutting $2.7 billion in order to ensure that the state’s Medicaid program can be returned to sustainability and continue delivering essential medical services for those that need them.
Rebalancing
Governor Quinn also reaffirmed his commitment to rebalancing the way Illinois cares for individuals with developmental disabilities and mental illness to improve their quality of life. The FY 13 budget includes funding to ensure smooth transitions and coordinated care as individuals move from costly institutions to supportive community settings.
The Governor today announced plans to close two additional centers, Murray Developmental Center and Singer Mental Health Center, over the course of the next fiscal year. Through this rebalancing process, the administration will comply with all consent decrees, provide individualized care and ultimately achieve savings for the state.
Tax Reform
For far too long, the Illinois Revenue Code has included many loopholes that are based on politics – not economics. Today, Governor Quinn directed a thorough search of the Illinois Revenue Code for unnecessary loopholes that do not efficiently support jobs and economic growth.
The Governor has instructed Revenue Director, Brian Hamer to meet with legislative leaders of both houses and parties to identify and close unfair loopholes. Loophole revenue can be used to pay down the state’s backlog of bills and provide targeted tax relief for hard-working families and businesses.
Investing in Education
In today’s budget address, Governor Quinn reiterated his commitment to education, jobs and economic growth. To move Illinois forward, we must ensure that we are providing all Illinois students with a high-quality education and preparing our workers for the jobs of today and tomorrow.
The Governor’s budget maintains funding for K-12 and higher education. In addition, the state will increase early childhood funding by $20 million. The Monetary Award Program (MAP), which provides college scholarships for needy students, will also see a funding increase of more than $50 million during fiscal year 2013 to help deserving students achieve higher degrees.
For more information and copies of Governor Quinn’s operating and capital budget proposals for fiscal year 2013, please visit Budget.Illinois.gov.
Related Documents
Efficiencies Fact Sheet : http://www2.illinois.gov/budget/Documents/Budget%20Book/FY%202013/FINAL%20Efficiencies%20Fact%20Sheet%20-%20FY2013%20Budget.pdf
Rebalancing Fact Sheet :
http://www2.illinois.gov/budget/Documents/Budget%20Book/FY%202013/FINAL%20Rebalancing%20Fact%20Sheet%20-%20FY2013%20Budget.pdf
Illinois Mental-Health Cuts Endanger All Patients’ Doctor Access | Feb 22, 2012
By Bob Kazel | Bloomberg
Feb. 22 (Bloomberg) -- The cutting of mental-health facilities and Medicaid payments in budget-challenged Illinois threatens to swamp emergency rooms with low-income psychiatric patients and limit doctors’ ability to treat others. Chicago’s Public Health Department will shutter half its 12 psychiatric clinics by the end of April, and the state will close as many as two hospitals in the coming budget year. The measures are in addition to state trims in Medicaid that Governor Pat Quinn, a Democrat, is expected to announce today in his fiscal 2013 budget address.
Illinois’ mental-health spending declined 12 percent to $520 million in fiscal 2012 from $591 million in 2009, according to NAMI Illinois, a patient advocacy group that’s part of the Arlington, Virginia-based National Alliance on Mental Illness. During that period, states cut 9.5 percent, or more than $1.6 billion, from mental-health services, the group said.
“We saw cuts on a scale we’ve never seen before,” said Mike Fitzpatrick, NAMI’s executive director. “It was devastating.”
Illinois’ trims were among the deepest cutbacks in the U.S. and reflected worsening care for low-income, jobless and uninsured psychiatric patients across the U.S., said Dr. Michael Wahl, president of the Illinois College of Emergency Physicians.
“This is a huge issue that affects access to care to all,” said Wahl, whose group represents more than 1,200 doctors. “It’s like the pebble in the pond. The ripples go out and affect all.”
ER Overload
More use of ERs by people with mental illness, Wahl said, could mean additional overcrowding and make it harder for doctors to promptly see those who can pay, those with private insurance, and patients with nonpsychiatric illnesses and injuries. It also puts further strain on hospitals already struggling with balance-sheet pressure due to state reimbursement cuts to providers.
South Carolina, Alabama and Alaska lead the states for mental-health spending cuts since 2009, according to a national report issued by NAMI last November. South Carolina has reduced its budget by more than 39 percent, Alabama 36 percent and Alaska more than 32 percent. In July, Illinois plans to close its Tinley Park Mental Health Center in south suburban Chicago. The facility serves only 50 patients yet costs the state more than $20 million a year to operate. Yesterday, Quinn administration officials said they would also seek to close Singer Mental Health Center in Rockford in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2013. Illinois now runs nine mental hospitals. “The state is in terrible financial shape,” said MaryLynn McGuire Clarke, senior director at the Illinois Hospital Association. “Tough times mean tough decisions. But you still hope the most vulnerable among us will get the care they need, because the illness doesn’t go away.”
Looking Elsewhere
The six Chicago centers slated for closing serve about 5,300 people, most with no health insurance or receiving Medicaid, the joint state-federal health-care program for the poor. Many patients who can’t get care at the remaining clinics will be asked to seek treatment at nongovernment community health centers or with private doctors and therapists. More admissions to emergency rooms could further test the financial health of hospitals, which consider that care a public service and not a money maker, said Wahl, an ER doctor at Evanston Hospital in north suburban Chicago. When psychiatric patients use the ER, costs may include security guards, social workers and sometimes “sitters” to accompany them on a medical floor if a psychiatric bed is unavailable. “You can’t bill for a sitter’s time or security time,” Wahl said. “It’s expected of the hospital. It’s a significant expense. It adds up.”
‘Falling Through Cracks’
A patient who gets treatment at one of the Chicago-run clinics set to close, Jacob Aronov, 56, said he has been going there about 10 years. The closest remaining one is an hour away by elevated train and bus; his current clinic is a short walk from his North Side apartment. He has glaucoma, and the longer trip will be more difficult. Aronov said he worried about interrupting his established therapeutic relationships and finding providers within a reasonable distance who accept Medicaid. “It will make it harder to make an appointment,” he said. “Some of the patients won’t get help, and will wind up falling through the cracks.” Most users of the clinics that are closing can still find care, said Dr. Bechara Choucair, commissioner of the city’s Public Health Department. He acknowledged that some would have to travel farther, but said his office would pay their public transportation.
About 1,100 Affected
About 1,100 patients cut from the clinics -- mainly those with government insurance -- will be able to go to community mental-health agencies not operated by the city, he said.
Some patients who will have to travel farther will wait until problems are serious enough for an ER, said Dr. Leslie Zun, chairman of emergency medicine at Mt. Sinai Hospital in Chicago, who has studied the issue.
ERs increasingly can’t find other hospitals to absorb psychiatric patients. The number of inpatient psychiatric beds in Illinois has dropped 28 percent in the past 10 years, according to the state hospital association. A nationwide study by the Lafayette, Louisiana-based Schumacher Group, an ER management firm, found 70 percent of ER administrators say they’re keeping psychiatric patients for at least 24 hours because they can’t be admitted or transferred. Ten percent reported boarding them as long as a week. Governor Quinn warned this month that Illinois might have to “step on the toes” of medical providers and offer still- lower reimbursement rates to trim spending, by about $2.7 billion, his administration has said. Many doctors and counselors already resist taking Medicaid, in part because of relatively low fee schedules and tardy payments.
‘Short-Sighted’ Thinking
“If you’re going to cut the reimbursements one more time, fewer docs are going to be willing to take Medicaid clients,” said Fitzpatrick, the NAMI executive director. While state and local governments say that closing or consolidating facilities will be more efficient, the moves may boost costs for all consumers, said Dr. William Sullivan, an emergency physician at University of Illinois Medical Center in Chicago.
“Saying that they’re going to save money doing this is kind of short-sighted,” Sullivan said.
--With assistance from Tim Jones in Springfield, Illinois. Editors: Flynn McRoberts, Stephen Merelman.
To contact the reporter on this story: Bob Kazel in Chicago through Fmcroberts1@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Flynn McRoberts in Chicago at fmcroberts1@bloomberg.net.
# http://www.businessweek.com/news/2012-02-22/illinois-mental-health-cuts-endanger-all-patients-doctor-access.html
Feb. 22 (Bloomberg) -- The cutting of mental-health facilities and Medicaid payments in budget-challenged Illinois threatens to swamp emergency rooms with low-income psychiatric patients and limit doctors’ ability to treat others. Chicago’s Public Health Department will shutter half its 12 psychiatric clinics by the end of April, and the state will close as many as two hospitals in the coming budget year. The measures are in addition to state trims in Medicaid that Governor Pat Quinn, a Democrat, is expected to announce today in his fiscal 2013 budget address.
Illinois’ mental-health spending declined 12 percent to $520 million in fiscal 2012 from $591 million in 2009, according to NAMI Illinois, a patient advocacy group that’s part of the Arlington, Virginia-based National Alliance on Mental Illness. During that period, states cut 9.5 percent, or more than $1.6 billion, from mental-health services, the group said.
“We saw cuts on a scale we’ve never seen before,” said Mike Fitzpatrick, NAMI’s executive director. “It was devastating.”
Illinois’ trims were among the deepest cutbacks in the U.S. and reflected worsening care for low-income, jobless and uninsured psychiatric patients across the U.S., said Dr. Michael Wahl, president of the Illinois College of Emergency Physicians.
“This is a huge issue that affects access to care to all,” said Wahl, whose group represents more than 1,200 doctors. “It’s like the pebble in the pond. The ripples go out and affect all.”
ER Overload
More use of ERs by people with mental illness, Wahl said, could mean additional overcrowding and make it harder for doctors to promptly see those who can pay, those with private insurance, and patients with nonpsychiatric illnesses and injuries. It also puts further strain on hospitals already struggling with balance-sheet pressure due to state reimbursement cuts to providers.
South Carolina, Alabama and Alaska lead the states for mental-health spending cuts since 2009, according to a national report issued by NAMI last November. South Carolina has reduced its budget by more than 39 percent, Alabama 36 percent and Alaska more than 32 percent. In July, Illinois plans to close its Tinley Park Mental Health Center in south suburban Chicago. The facility serves only 50 patients yet costs the state more than $20 million a year to operate. Yesterday, Quinn administration officials said they would also seek to close Singer Mental Health Center in Rockford in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2013. Illinois now runs nine mental hospitals. “The state is in terrible financial shape,” said MaryLynn McGuire Clarke, senior director at the Illinois Hospital Association. “Tough times mean tough decisions. But you still hope the most vulnerable among us will get the care they need, because the illness doesn’t go away.”
Looking Elsewhere
The six Chicago centers slated for closing serve about 5,300 people, most with no health insurance or receiving Medicaid, the joint state-federal health-care program for the poor. Many patients who can’t get care at the remaining clinics will be asked to seek treatment at nongovernment community health centers or with private doctors and therapists. More admissions to emergency rooms could further test the financial health of hospitals, which consider that care a public service and not a money maker, said Wahl, an ER doctor at Evanston Hospital in north suburban Chicago. When psychiatric patients use the ER, costs may include security guards, social workers and sometimes “sitters” to accompany them on a medical floor if a psychiatric bed is unavailable. “You can’t bill for a sitter’s time or security time,” Wahl said. “It’s expected of the hospital. It’s a significant expense. It adds up.”
‘Falling Through Cracks’
A patient who gets treatment at one of the Chicago-run clinics set to close, Jacob Aronov, 56, said he has been going there about 10 years. The closest remaining one is an hour away by elevated train and bus; his current clinic is a short walk from his North Side apartment. He has glaucoma, and the longer trip will be more difficult. Aronov said he worried about interrupting his established therapeutic relationships and finding providers within a reasonable distance who accept Medicaid. “It will make it harder to make an appointment,” he said. “Some of the patients won’t get help, and will wind up falling through the cracks.” Most users of the clinics that are closing can still find care, said Dr. Bechara Choucair, commissioner of the city’s Public Health Department. He acknowledged that some would have to travel farther, but said his office would pay their public transportation.
About 1,100 Affected
About 1,100 patients cut from the clinics -- mainly those with government insurance -- will be able to go to community mental-health agencies not operated by the city, he said.
Some patients who will have to travel farther will wait until problems are serious enough for an ER, said Dr. Leslie Zun, chairman of emergency medicine at Mt. Sinai Hospital in Chicago, who has studied the issue.
ERs increasingly can’t find other hospitals to absorb psychiatric patients. The number of inpatient psychiatric beds in Illinois has dropped 28 percent in the past 10 years, according to the state hospital association. A nationwide study by the Lafayette, Louisiana-based Schumacher Group, an ER management firm, found 70 percent of ER administrators say they’re keeping psychiatric patients for at least 24 hours because they can’t be admitted or transferred. Ten percent reported boarding them as long as a week. Governor Quinn warned this month that Illinois might have to “step on the toes” of medical providers and offer still- lower reimbursement rates to trim spending, by about $2.7 billion, his administration has said. Many doctors and counselors already resist taking Medicaid, in part because of relatively low fee schedules and tardy payments.
‘Short-Sighted’ Thinking
“If you’re going to cut the reimbursements one more time, fewer docs are going to be willing to take Medicaid clients,” said Fitzpatrick, the NAMI executive director. While state and local governments say that closing or consolidating facilities will be more efficient, the moves may boost costs for all consumers, said Dr. William Sullivan, an emergency physician at University of Illinois Medical Center in Chicago.
“Saying that they’re going to save money doing this is kind of short-sighted,” Sullivan said.
--With assistance from Tim Jones in Springfield, Illinois. Editors: Flynn McRoberts, Stephen Merelman.
To contact the reporter on this story: Bob Kazel in Chicago through Fmcroberts1@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Flynn McRoberts in Chicago at fmcroberts1@bloomberg.net.
# http://www.businessweek.com/news/2012-02-22/illinois-mental-health-cuts-endanger-all-patients-doctor-access.html
Tuesday, February 21, 2012
News from the U.S. Access Board • January/ February 2012
Board Releases Proposed Standards for Medical Diagnostic Equipment
The Board has released for public comment accessibility standards for medical diagnostic equipment. Developed under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, the proposed standards address access for people with disabilities to examination tables and chairs, weight scales, mammography equipment, and other equipment used for diagnostic purposes. The standards are not final and are available for public comment for 120 days.
The standards provide design criteria that will allow independent access to diagnostic equipment, including types that require transfer from wheelchairs and other mobility aids. Provisions address transfer surfaces, support rails, armrests, compatibility with lift devices, and other features to facilitate transfer. Equipment that does not require transfer from wheelchairs or that is used in a standing position is also addressed. The proposed rule includes a discussion of these requirements that highlights areas where additional information is sought. The Board seeks feedback on the substance of specific provisions, their impacts on equipment design and manufacture, and other topics.
The Board is developing these standards in consultation with other agencies, including the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the Department of Justice (DOJ). Although health care providers are not required to comply with the standards, DOJ or other federal agencies may adopt the standards as requirements for health care providers under the Americans with Disabilities Act or other laws. Any such action will occur separately from the Board’s rulemaking.
The Board plans to organize a panel of stakeholders to develop consensus recommendations on how the standards should be finalized based on the comments received. This advisory committee will include disability groups, equipment manufacturers, health care providers, standard-setting organizations, and other interested parties. The Board will issue a notice inviting applications for committee membership at a future date.
The deadline for comments on the standards is June 8. Comments can be submitted or viewed at the www.regulations.gov website. The Board will hold public hearings on the standards in Washington, D.C. on March 14 and Atlanta on May 8 that will provide additional venues for submitting comment.
For further information, visit the Board's website or contact Earlene Sesker at sesker@access-board.gov, (202) 272-0022 (v), or (202) 272-0091 (TTY).
Public Hearings on the MDE Standards
March 14, 9:30 – Noon
Access Board Conference Center
1331 F Street, NW, Suite 800
Washington, DC
May 8, 9:30 – Noon
Hilton Atlanta
Meeting Rooms 309-311
255 Courtland Street, NE
Atlanta, GA
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Board to Hold Public Hearing on Draft ICT Rule at CSUN Conference
On March 1, the Board will hold a public hearing on a draft update of requirements for information and communication technology (ICT) in San Diego at the International Conference on Assistive Technology and Persons with Disabilities organized by California State University, Northridge (CSUN). The event will allow members of the public to comment on the released draft which updates requirements for ICT covered by Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act and Section 255 of the Telecommunications Act. The hearing will be open to the general public, including those who are not registered to attend the conference.
The draft rule updates accessibility requirements for computer hardware and software, websites, media players, electronic documents, telephones and cell phones, PDAs and other ICT products covered by Section 508 and the Telecommunications Act. In addition to updating specific provisions, the released draft includes revisions from an earlier version that simplify the rule’s structure for greater usability, improve harmonization with other guidelines and standards, and further clarify various sections, such as the relationship between performance and technical criteria.
The hearing will take place from 1:00 to 3:00 at the Manchester Grand Hyatt in San Diego. Registration is not required to attend the hearing, but those who wish to provide comments are encouraged to contact Kathy Johnson at johnson@access-board.gov, (202) 272-0041 (voice), or (202) 272-0065 (TTY). The Board held a similar hearing on the draft rule in Washington, D.C. on January 11.
Public comments on the draft rule are due March 7 and can be submitted through the www.regulations.gov website. The draft rule and related information are available on the Board's website.
Public Hearing on the Draft Update of ICT Requirements
March 1, 1:00 – 3:00
27th Annual CSUN conference
Manchester Grand Hyatt
Ballrooms Elizabeth D & E
One Market Place
San Diego, CA
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Over 600 Comments Submitted on the Board’s Proposed Rights-of-Way Guidelines
The Board received over 600 comments from the public on its proposed guidelines for accessible public rights-of-way by the close of the comment period on February 2. The guidelines, which were available for comment for six months, garnered feedback from an array of stakeholders and interested parties, including transportation departments, civil engineers, government entities, disability groups, industry associations, and others. The Board also received feedback from the public at hearings held in Dallas and Washington, D.C.
The guidelines provide design criteria for public streets and sidewalks, including pedestrian access routes, street crossings, curb ramps and blended transitions, on-street parking, street furniture, and other elements. The specifications comprehensively address access that accommodates all types of disabilities, including mobility and vision impairments, while taking into account conditions and constraints that may impact compliance, such as space limitations and terrain. The Board will revise the guidelines based on its review of the comments and publish them in final form. The final guidelines, once implemented as standards, will apply to newly constructed or altered portions of public rights-of-way covered by the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). They will also apply to public rights-of-way built or altered with funding from the Federal government under the Architectural Barriers Act (ABA) and the Rehabilitation Act.
Comments on the proposed guidelines, as well as hearing transcripts, can be viewed at www.regulations.gov. Additional information on the rulemaking is posted on the Board’s website.
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Upcoming Webinar on the ADA Standards to Address Common Questions
The next scheduled webinar in the Board’s free monthly series will be held March 1 from 2:30 – 4:00 (ET) and review new provisions in the 2010 ADA Standards with a focus on areas where guidance or clarification is often requested. Board accessibility specialists will address frequently asked questions about the standards which become mandatory March 15 under Department of Justice regulations. The webinar series is made available in cooperation with the national network of ADA Centers. For more information, including registration instructions, visit www.accessibilityonline.org. Questions for the webinar can be submitted in advance through this website. Archived copies of previous Board webinars are also available on the site.
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DOJ’s 2010 ADA Standards Become Mandatory March 15
On March 15, the Department of Justice’s updated ADA Standards (2010) will become mandatory for new construction and alterations covered by the ADA. On the date, optional use of the original 1991 ADA standards will no longer be allowed. DOJ adopted the updated standards in September 2010, but permitted continued use of the 1991 standards for 18 months to allow time for transitioning to the 2010 edition.
Under DOJ’s ADA regulations, the March 15 effective date applies to the date of the permit application or, where no permit is required, to the physical start of construction or alteration. For public accommodations and commercial facilities covered by title III of the ADA, compliance with the 2010 standards is required where:
* the date the last application for a building permit or permit extension is certified to be complete by a State, county, or local government is on or after March 15, 2012;
* the date the last application for a building permit or permit extension is received by a State, county, or local government (where the government does not certify the completion of applications) is on or after March 15, 2012; or
* the start of physical construction or alteration (if no permit is required) is on or after March 15, 2012.
For state and local government facilities covered by title II, compliance with the 2010 standards is required where the physical start of construction or alteration occurs on or after March 15, 2012. However, public transportation facilities, including bus stops and rail stations, are subject to ADA standards issued by the Department of Transportation (DOT), not DOJ. DOT’s updated ADA standards (2006), which are very similar to DOJ’s 2010 edition, are already mandatory for public transportation facilities.
Copies of the 2010 standards and related information are available on DOJ’s website at www.ada.gov.
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Barrier Removal Checklist Available from New England ADA Center
The ADA requires that barriers to accessibility be removed in existing places of public accommodation where it is “readily achievable” to do so. The New England ADA Center, which is part of the federally supported National Network of ADA Centers, has issued an updated version of its ADA Checklist for Readily Achievable Barrier Removal based on the 2010 ADA standards. The Center’s previous checklist was based on the original 1991 standards. The new checklist also provides sections on various types of recreation facilities newly covered in the 2010 standards, including play areas, swimming pools, sports facilities, fishing piers, boating facilities, golf courses, and amusement rides.
Under the ADA regulations issued by the Department of Justice (DOJ), elements in existing facilities that have been retrofitted for access according to the 1991 standards do not have to be further modified to meet the 2010 standards. However, this safe harbor does not extend to certain spaces and elements not addressed in 1991 standards, notably provisions for recreation facilities and housing. DOJ’s ADA regulations note the specific provisions in the 2010 standards that may require further barrier removal. Beginning on March 15, any retrofits undertaken for barrier removal must be conform to the 2010 standards, as optional use of the 1991 standards for this purpose will no longer be allowed by that date. The updated checklist provides a helpful survey tool in addressing access barriers according to the 2010 standards.
The new checklist is available from the New England ADA Center at www.adachecklist.org. For further information, contact the Center at (617) 695-0085 (voice or TTY) or ADAinfo@NewEnglandADA.org.
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For the U.S. Access Board visit: http://www.access-board.gov/
ILLINOIS AFFORDABLE HOUSING MONTH IS MARCH 2012 please join Housing Action Illinois
Affordable Housing Month is the perfect time for organizations and individuals to raise awareness about affordable housing and homelessness. It is also an opportunity to build momentum for future housing victories through organizing, advocacy and public education activities.
Ideas for Activities
Exampes of 2011 Activities
. Francis Parker High School, Chicago, March 4th
Students will participate in a service and advocacy project with Cornerstone Community Outreach and Housing Action Illinois.
2. METEC, Peoria, March 12th
2011 Homeowners Fair: A collaboration of lenders, realtors, insurance companies, HUD approved housing counseling agencies, and other mortgage industry leaders will be available to assist prospective and current homeowners. The cost is free, but pre-registration is required.
3. Illinois Network of Centers for Independent Living, Springfield, March 15th
Press Conference and Lobby Day in Springfield to oppose Governor Quinn’s proposed budget cuts to services for people with disabilities including the elimination of the community reintegration program.
4. Decatur County Homeless Council, March 17th
Affordable Housing Breakfast to discuss challenges faced by homeless families with children.
5. Will County Continuum of Care, March 28
Annual Open Leadership Meeting with legislative and funding updates from Housing Action Illinois.
6. Housing Action Illinois
Postcard and online petition campaign to oppose Governor Quinn’s proposed cuts to the Emergency & Transitional Housing Program and Homeless Prevention Program.
Advocacy training for housing counseling agencies on March 24th.
7. United Congregations of Metro-East
Writing an Op-Ed article on affordable housing for a local newspaper.
8. Mid Central Community Action Agency
Writing a newsletter article about housing and transportation costs.
9. DuPage Housing Action Coalition
Press outreach to illustrate the impact of the Homeless Prevention Program and DHAC members will advocate for affordable housing during a DuPage County Board meeting.
We Want To Work With You
Housing Action Illinois wants to work with you to plan Affordable Housing Month activities. As Affordable Housing Month approaches, we will distribute a calendar of activities to promote activities throughout the state.
To get more information, please contact Gianna Baker, Outreach Coordinator, at 312-939-6074 x. 110 or gianna@housingactionil.org
For Housing Action Illinois visit: http://www.housingactionil.org/index.html
Ideas for Activities
Organize a postcard campaign to advocate for legislation that supports affordable housing
Press outreach, such as Letters to the Editor and editorial board meetings
Film Screenings & Discussions
Get Local Governments to do Affordable Housing Month Proclamations
Community Forums and Congregational Outreach
Legislative/Community Breakfasts
Tour or open house of affordable housing sites and/or areas of great housing need
Exampes of 2011 Activities
. Francis Parker High School, Chicago, March 4th
Students will participate in a service and advocacy project with Cornerstone Community Outreach and Housing Action Illinois.
2. METEC, Peoria, March 12th
2011 Homeowners Fair: A collaboration of lenders, realtors, insurance companies, HUD approved housing counseling agencies, and other mortgage industry leaders will be available to assist prospective and current homeowners. The cost is free, but pre-registration is required.
3. Illinois Network of Centers for Independent Living, Springfield, March 15th
Press Conference and Lobby Day in Springfield to oppose Governor Quinn’s proposed budget cuts to services for people with disabilities including the elimination of the community reintegration program.
4. Decatur County Homeless Council, March 17th
Affordable Housing Breakfast to discuss challenges faced by homeless families with children.
5. Will County Continuum of Care, March 28
Annual Open Leadership Meeting with legislative and funding updates from Housing Action Illinois.
6. Housing Action Illinois
Postcard and online petition campaign to oppose Governor Quinn’s proposed cuts to the Emergency & Transitional Housing Program and Homeless Prevention Program.
Advocacy training for housing counseling agencies on March 24th.
7. United Congregations of Metro-East
Writing an Op-Ed article on affordable housing for a local newspaper.
8. Mid Central Community Action Agency
Writing a newsletter article about housing and transportation costs.
9. DuPage Housing Action Coalition
Press outreach to illustrate the impact of the Homeless Prevention Program and DHAC members will advocate for affordable housing during a DuPage County Board meeting.
We Want To Work With You
Housing Action Illinois wants to work with you to plan Affordable Housing Month activities. As Affordable Housing Month approaches, we will distribute a calendar of activities to promote activities throughout the state.
To get more information, please contact Gianna Baker, Outreach Coordinator, at 312-939-6074 x. 110 or gianna@housingactionil.org
For Housing Action Illinois visit: http://www.housingactionil.org/index.html
Monday, February 20, 2012
Gov Quinn faces big questions on Illinois budget | Drastic cuts could affect quaility of life for many disabled | Feb 20, 2012
SPRINGFIELD, Ill. — Gov. Pat Quinn is about to deliver his fourth and perhaps most anticipated budget proposal. He already has cut spending and raised taxes, yet Illinois remains in dire financial shape, in large part because of ballooning health and pension costs.
When Quinn delivers his budget speech Wednesday, he'll face big questions about where to go next — questions that could affect local schools, towns scattered across Illinois, retirement security for tens of thousands of people and health care for millions. In recent days, he or his office have spoken about cuts to Medicaid and constitutional officers' budgets and closing state facilities.
"Some of the news is not going to be happy news, but necessary news," Quinn said Sunday in Chicago. "You'll hear some people gnashing their teeth on Wednesday afternoon that have been kind of used to the budget the way it is."
Here are five key questions he'll face:
HOW MANY STATE FACILITIES COULD BE CLOSED?
Quinn told The Associated Press last week that his budget will call for closing "quite a few" state facilities. He told WBEZ radio that those facilities will include youth prisons. Illinois has eight, scattered from Chicago to deep southern Illinois.
"You have to make some sound decisions. I have," Quinn told the station. "I have the courage to back 'em up, and this budget year we'll go forward with facility closures in a variety of places."
Two facilities, one in Jacksonville and one in Tinley Park, already face closure as part of an effort to get people with mental disabilities and illnesses out of large institutions and into community care. The other institutions that could be targeted remain a mystery.
Five places that have reason to worry are Chester, Dixon, Lincoln, Murphysboro and Rockford. Quinn proposed closing institutions in those cities last year in a budget fight with legislators. He dropped the closure plan when lawmakers provided more money to operate the facilities, but they could be at the top of a new closure list.
HOW DEEP WILL THE MEDICAID CUTS BE?
Quinn says the $14 billion Medicaid program should be chopped by $2 billion. It's not clear what that will mean for the 2.7 million Illinois residents who depend on the program for some or all of their health care.
The governor could propose cutting rates paid to doctors and hospitals for providing care to the poor. That's what he tried last year, unsuccessfully. It's easier to call for cutting doctors' pay than cutting benefits directly, but that doesn't mean it's painless. Some struggling hospitals could reduce services or even close. More doctors might refuse to see Medicaid patients.
Other options would hit patients more directly. Quinn could propose tightening eligibility so that fewer people qualify for care. Or he could try to eliminate optional services, such as long-term nursing home care or help with some prescriptions.
Quinn has talked about transforming Medicaid into what he calls a "wellness system," suggesting he has a broad overhaul in mind.
HOW WILL QUINN PAY FOR NEW SPENDING?
In his State of the State address, Quinn offered a handful of proposals that would add to the state's budget difficulties by increasing costs or reducing revenue. He said little about how he would fill the new hole, promising that details would come in his budget.
So now Quinn has to explain how he plans to replace the $160 million Illinois would lose under his proposal to eliminate a tax on natural gas. He also has to spell out his ideas for $140 million worth of tax breaks to families with children and to businesses that hire unemployed veterans. Other proposals, such as spending more on early childhood education, boost the total cost of his ideas to perhaps $500 million.
In his speech nearly three weeks ago, Quinn said, "To create jobs and grow our economy, we must continue to invest in Illinois and help everyday people."
Now the pressure's on him to explain how to do that while also digging out of the state's deep budget hole.
WHAT DOES HE WANT TO DO ABOUT PENSION COSTS?
The retirement systems for teachers, university staff and state employees make up a huge — and growing — chunk of the Illinois budget. Next year, the state must contribute $5.3 billion to the pension systems, eating up roughly $1 of every $6 the state takes in.
The numbers are so big partly because officials have promised generous retirement benefits to government employees. But it's also because the state has sometimes failed to make its scheduled payments over the years and because that payment schedule ramps up dramatically.
Quinn has hinted that he'd like to make downstate and suburban Chicago schools share the retirement costs for their employees, as Chicago schools do. If he goes that route, Quinn can expect a hurricane of opposition. Local school officials will line up with predictions of property tax increases, classroom cuts and layoffs.
Another option is cutting retirement benefits. Quinn and the Legislature already have reduced benefits for state employees hired now and in the future. They haven't done the same for people already on the payroll, partly because of the influence of the workers' union and partly because the Illinois Constitution says pension benefits "shall not be diminished or impaired."
There may be ways to finesse the issue, however. Perhaps employees could be required to contribute more money toward their pensions or to retire later to collect them.
He could also propose scrapping the current, somewhat arbitrary payment schedule, which requires bigger and bigger contributions every year until 2045. Quinn seems cold to this possibility, however.
WHAT WILL HE DO ABOUT UNPAID BILLS?
At any given time, state government is billions of dollars behind in paying its bills to the people and organizations that provide services. Businesses, schools, hospitals and charities all go months without being paid for work they've done on behalf of the state. Does Quinn have a plan for fixing the problem?
In the past, he proposed borrowing money to pay the bills. State government would still owe money, but that debt wouldn't fall on the shoulders of struggling organizations across Illinois. But he proposed borrowing more than was needed, fueling fears that he was interested in spending even more money, not just paying overdue bills.
If Quinn wants to take another shot at his "debt restructuring" idea, he's keeping quiet about it.
EDITOR'S NOTE — Christopher Wills is AP's Illinois Statehouse correspondent.
Follow Christopher Wills on Twitter at http://twitter.com/chrisbwills
The Arc of Illinois advocates for the disabled at the White House | Feb 20, 2012
Uploaded by whitehouse on Feb 10, 2012
The President stops by a White House Community Leaders Briefing to speak to 150 of The Arc's leaders, members, advocates, and staff from across the country. The Arc is one of the largest national community-based organizations advocating for and serving people with intellectual and developmental disabilities and their families. February 10, 2012.
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CHICAGO HEIGHTS | Nancy Webster, Terri Devine, Dorelia Rivera, Bob Okazaki, Dan Strick and Tony Paulauski joined 150 leaders of The Arc from across the country to attend a White House community leaders briefing on Feb. 10.
Over the course of the day, leaders of chapters of The Arc, including people with intellectual and developmental disabilities, were briefed by high level White House and administration officials on topics ranging from Medicaid to education to community living to family support and employment for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities, and had the chance to engage with and ask questions of these officials.
This daylong briefing is specifically for The Arc's network, and comes just weeks before Developmental Disabilities Awareness month, which is in March and will be marked with efforts across the country to raise awareness of issues facing people with disabilities.
"We are honored to be invited as members of The Arc to attend this White House briefing." said Orland Park resident Terri Devine, vice president of The Arc of Illinois.
Participants heard from senior White House officials including Jon Carson, the director of the Office of Public Engagement, and a surprise visit by President Barack Obama.
"The Arc is to be commended for their ability to bring together disability advocates from throughout the United States to meet with senior White House officials," said Dan Strick, president of the The Arc of Illinois' Executive Forum and SouthSTAR Services president/CEO. "It offers a unique opportunity to share our local perspective with policy makers. We want to make them understand how their decisions impacts someone in Chicago Heights or Dyer with a developmental disability."
Additionally, there were a series of policy breakout sessions that allowed for more detailed discussions on certain issue areas, like community living, education and Medicaid. The purpose of these briefings was to allow White House and administration officials to hear from leaders of The Arc about how government policies affect the lives of people with intellectual and developmental disabilties and impact their ability to live full, independent lives. This unique, face-to-face opportunity to speak directly to people in positions to make change from within the government allows leaders of The Arc to make the voices of the millions of people with disabilities heard at the White House.
As The Arc gears up to raise awareness during Developmental Disabilities Awareness Month in March, chapter leaders can take home new tools to help individuals in their communities utilize programs of the federal government.
"The Arc of Illinois is engaged with a major rebalancing of the disability system here in Illinois. These discussions at the White House will provide us with even more knowledge to advocate for the changes we need here in Illinois," said Tony Paulauski, executive director and resident of Tinley Park.
"The Arc, as one of the largest organizations working with people with intellectual and developmental disabilities, brings a wealth of experience and insight to discuss today's most important concerns facing persons with intellectual and developmental disabilities. We're looking forward to having them here at the White House to deepen our partnership, and to discuss the issues we care about most," Carson said.
The Arc advocates for and serves people with intellectual and developmental disabiltiies, including Down syndrome, autism, fetal alcohol spectrum disorders, cerebral palsy and other diagnoses. The Arc has a network of more than 700 chapters across the country promoting and protecting the human rights of people with these disabilities and actively supporting their full inclusion and participation in the community throughout their lifetimes and without regard to diagnosis.
Read more: http://www.nwitimes.com/news/local/illinois/chicago-heights/the-arc-of-illinois-advocates-for-the-disabled-at-the/article_69178f87-7f3a-586d-92a1-065501926f9f.html#ixzz1mvN4Y5iC
.Copyright 2012 nwitimes.com. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
HHS takes action to ensure equal access for the deaf and hard of hearing understanding of important medical decisions and treatment options | Feb 17, 2012
News Release
February 17, 2012
HHS’ Office for Civil Rights (OCR) has entered into a settlement agreement with Advanced Dialysis Centers in Randallstown Maryland (“ADC”), to ensure individuals who are deaf and hard of hearing have equal access to programs and activities as required under Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act (Section 504) and the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).
This settlement follows an OCR investigation into a complaint filed by the sister of a deaf patient at ADC who alleged that the facility repeatedly failed to provide adequate sign language interpreter services essential to her brother’s understanding of important medical decisions and treatment options.
“Despite their right to equal access and opportunity to benefit from and participate in programs funded by federal dollars, individuals who are deaf and hard of hearing continue to face unlawful barriers to getting needed health services,” said OCR Director Leon Rodriguez. “Section 504 and the ADA exist to ensure that individuals do not face discrimination in attempting to communicate with their health care providers.”
Section 504 prohibits disability-based discrimination by all health care providers that receive federal financial assistance. Where necessary to afford equal access to health care services, providers must provide free of charge to the deaf or hard of hearing person, auxiliary aids and services including sign language interpreters.
OCR found that ADC engaged in unlawful discrimination on the basis of disability by repeatedly failing to provide the patient who was deaf, a sign language interpreter while he was receiving treatment at the facility. In addition, OCR also found that ADC did not have any policies or procedures in place to address how to communicate with patients who are deaf or hard of hearing, and had not developed resources or auxiliary aids to assist in effectively communicating with these patients.
ADC has agreed to take several steps to come into compliance with Section 504 and ADA, including ensuring patients are provided interpreters in a timely manner and drafting policies and procedures which ensure effective communication with deaf or hard of hearing patients and/or companions. In addition, ADC has agreed to train all staff on their non-discrimination obligations and provide patients notice of their right to appropriate auxiliary aids and services free of charge and the process for filing and resolving grievances about such services.
The HHS Settlement Agreement can be found on the OCR website at: www.hhs.gov/ocr/civilrights/activities/agreements.
People who believe that an entity receiving federal financial assistance has discriminated against them (or someone else) on the basis of disability, may file a complaint with OCR at: http://www.hhs.gov/ocr/civilrights/complaints/index.html.
Contact: HHS Press Office PH 202-690-6343
Sunday, February 19, 2012
"Raising Renee" PREMIERE on HBO 2 - Feb 22, 2012 - explores deep themes of family, race, class, disability and art
RAISING RENEE begins in 2003 as Beverly McIver is savoring opening night of her first solo art show in New York. A talented painter and winner of major awards, her career was skyrocketing. She flew in her mother Ethel, a maid from Greensboro, North Carolina and her sister Renee, 43, who is mentally disabled and functions at about the level of a third grader. Years before, Beverly had casually promised her mother that she would take Renee when Ethel died, an event that seemed infinitely far off and unlikely to impinge on her life as a single woman, painting and teaching where her work took her.
But in 2004, Ethel died suddenly and Beverly’s promise was put to the test. RAISING RENEE is the story of a family’s remarkable response to being broken apart and rearranged after nearly 50 years. The film explores themes of family, race, class and disability through the interplay of painting, cinema and everyday life. Produced and directed by Jeanne Jordan and Steven Ascher, RAISING RENEE is the third part in a trilogy about resilient families that includes their acclaimed feature documentaries SO MUCH SO FAST and the Oscar-nominated, Sundance Grand Jury Prize winner TROUBLESOME CREEK: A MIDWESTERN.
Beverly McIver grew up in the 1960's and 70's in a housing project in Greensboro, North Carolina. Ethel singlehandedly raised her and her two sisters, working as a maid for white families. Segregation in Greensboro was notorious – it was the site of the earliest student sit-ins of the civil rights movement. A 1979 rally against the Ku Klux Klan in front of the McIvers’ house resulted in five people shot dead by the Klan.
YouTube Uploaded by WestCityFilms on Feb 3, 2012
Beverly’s talent brought her out of this world and into the world of art and a tenured professorship. It’s stunning to see the dream of upward mobility played out in one generation, and to look at its costs and implications. Beverly’s work has been politically controversial, examining racial and sexual stereotypes and executed in a style that critic Irving Sandler calls a merger of "personal confession and social commentary, photography and painting, and realism and expressionism."
The narrative arc of RAISING RENEE takes us from the time when Ethel and Renee shared a home in Greensboro, through Ethel’s illness and death, then to the pivotal moment in 2004 when Beverly brought Renee to live with her in Phoenix, Arizona. Viewers experience the consequences of Beverly’s promise to “raise” her sister, a forty-three-year-old woman/child, and the way it transforms her life at a time when she had hoped to focus on her burgeoning career and on finding a life partner.
Renee, who had lived with her mother from birth, undergoes an even greater transformation. At times she seems childlike; at others times she is surprisingly competent and articulate. She, too, is an artist, creating a large output of potholders and crafts. In the fall of 2009, after living with Beverly for five years, an opportunity arose for her to live independently – something that was unthinkable when their mother was alive. How she responds to this challenge at age 50 is astonishing, and poses key questions about disability and ability.
In RAISING RENEE events unfold over six years with humor, drama and unexpected twists, investing the film with the scope of a nonfiction novel that's nearly impossible to put down. The film provides a deeply intimate view of a unique group of women, the tenacity of family bonds and the power of art to transform experience into something beyond words.
OFFICIAL WEBSITE visit: http://westcityfilms.com/raising_renee.html
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