HR1233 94TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

HR1233 LRB094 20366 DRJ 58491 r

HOUSE RESOLUTION

WHEREAS, Medical schedule reports from the Department of Healthcare and Family Services state that as of April 7, 2006 nearly $1.5 billion dollars in unpaid Medicaid claims are pending; and

WHEREAS, Because Illinois is so far behind on paying Medicaid bills, doctors, pharmacies, hospitals, and other medical providers are faced with the decision to limit care provided to Medicaid-covered individuals or find ways to remain economically viable such as securing loans and exhausting lines of credit; and

WHEREAS, The amount of unpaid Medicaid bills at the end of FY 2006 is expected to continue to grow to a total of $1.8 billion, representing the highest level of unpaid Medicaid bills ever pushed off by the State of Illinois into the next fiscal year; and

WHEREAS, The payment cycle for Medicaid providers is expected to grow to an average of 79 days by the end of FY 2006, and the cycle for non-expedited providers will be considerably higher considering that some providers are promised payments based on a 30-day payment cycle; and

WHEREAS, The FY 2006 budget under-funded pensions by $1.2 billion compared to the funding schedule established by the 1995 Pension Funding Law; and

WHEREAS, Estimates indicate that the FY 2007 budget will under-fund pensions by another $1.1 billion, bringing the two-year pension diversion to a total of $2.3 billion; and

WHEREAS, Even though $2.3 billion in funding has been diverted from the funding of pensions, the Medicaid payment cycle and bills on hand at the end of the fiscal year have increased for FY 2006 and in the proposed budget for FY 2007; and

WHEREAS, At the same time that Medicaid bills go unpaid and pensions go under-funded, recent budgets have contained funding for member initiatives and special add-on projects benefiting only a small portion of the State; therefore, be it

RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE NINETY-FOURTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that until sufficient funding is appropriated to bring the Medicaid payments cycle down to an average of 30 days and pensions are funded based on a funding schedule consistent with the guidelines of the original 1995 Pension Funding Law, future budgets should not contain appropriations for member initiatives or special add-on projects benefiting only a small portion of the State; and be it further

RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be presented to the Governor of the State of Illinois.