Illinois a deabeat!

[EvilMonkey]

http://www.belleville.com/mld/belleville/n...al/12853598.htm

 

State's money problems translate into pain for pharmacists, doctors

 

CHRISTOPHER WILLS

 

Associated Press

 

 

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. - Tony Sartoris looked at the check and couldn't quite believe what he saw.

 

The state of Illinois was months behind in paying his chain of pharmacies for providing medicine to poor people. The company was borrowing money to stay afloat while waiting for its $2 million. It was cutting costs wherever possible.

 

And the state sends him $6.27.

 

"It was almost a slap in the face to cut a check for that little," he said. "The bottom line is that the very entity that licenses us to take care of the poor in Illinois doesn't pay us. It's wrong."

 

A lot of people agree with Sartoris, whose family runs Doc's Drugs in several northeastern Illinois towns.

 

They complain that the state is passing along its financial problems to the pharmacies, doctors and nursing homes that care for the poor. The state is slowing down payments to Medicaid providers, leaving them short of cash to pay their own expenses.

 

Meanwhile, disagreements among the state's top officials are blocking action that might provide temporary relief - a short-term loan so that the state can pay its bills.

 

Gov. Rod Blagojevich has agreed to the loan proposed by his fellow Democrat, Comptroller Dan Hynes. But Republican Treasurer Judy Baar Topinka says she has questions about how the money would be used.

 

Illinois has roughly $1.4 billion in Medicaid bills waiting to be paid. The payment cycle, from the time a bill arrives to the time a check is mailed, averages 62 business days, officials say.

 

Neither of those figures is a record. The backlog of unpaid bills has neared $2 billion under Blagojevich, and the payment cycle reached 108 days during Gov. Jim Edgar's administration.

 

But figures from the comptroller's office suggest the cash crunch is more serious at this point in the budget cycle than it has been in years and that it's likely to get worse.

 

The people who care for the poor say they can't afford longer waits for their money. The average delay may be 62 days, but that obscures the fact that some providers are waiting four months for payment.

 

"It's an ongoing battle every two weeks for me to make sure we've got enough money in the bank," said Jerry Bailey of Fisher Pharmacy in Cahokia.

 

Bailey said he has had to pay income taxes to the state on Medicaid funds that the state hadn't even sent him yet.

 

He has not stopped serving Medicaid customers, but Bailey and several other pharmacists said it might come to that.

 

"If I stop doing that, where are they going to get their medicine from?" said Stephen Clement, owner of Copper Bend Pharmacy in Belleville.

 

The Illinois Pharmacists Association surveyed its members recently and found that about half had borrowed money to stay in business. Four in 10 said they were considering cutting off service to Medicaid customers.

 

Nursing homes and hospitals report similar problems as they wait on overdue bills amounting to hundreds of thousands - or even millions - of dollars.

 

"There are many hospitals hanging on by a financial thread," said Howard Peters III, a vice president of the Illinois Hospital Association.

 

When he ran for governor, Blagojevich promised not to tinker with the Medicaid payment cycle to make the state budget appear to be balanced. But the latest budget calls for stretching out payments to 75 days.

 

Blagojevich's budget director, John Filan, said the state's continuing money problems, while easing significantly, have left Blagojevich with no good options. It was either pay the bills more slowly or cut off Medicaid service to some people, he said.

 

Comptroller Hynes has called for the state to borrow $1.1 billion to pay the overdue bills. Hynes also is refusing to write checks from a $55 million fund for special projects, arguing the money should instead go toward Medicaid bills.

 

Under the borrowing plan, Illinois would owe bond-holders instead of Medicaid providers, and it could repay the loan later in the budget year when cash is not so tight.

 

But that assumes more cash will arrive later - something that's usually true but not guaranteed.

 

The Blagojevich administration says a short-term loan is routine and has always been part of their plans for this fiscal year. It's not clear, though, why Hynes had to raise the idea or why it didn't come up soon after the budget year began July 1.

 

Topinka, who may run for governor, has not yet agreed to the loan. Aides say she wants assurances it would all go toward Medicaid bills. She also wants answers about Blagojevich's long-term budget plans.

 

"We're not going to get in the way of vendors getting paid, but the governor's office has to come a little clean and give us a commitment so we can make sure we're helping them in the short term and ultimately we're not revisiting this every year on the backs of these vendors," said Martin Noven, Topinka's deputy chief of staff.

 

Blagojevich aides scoff at such comments, noting that Topinka has repeatedly approved short-term loans in the past. They also point out that her position in a legal disagreement over tapping some special government funds has tied up $200 million that could be used to pay Medicaid bills.

 

Such bickering doesn't mean much to the businesses waiting for their money.

 

"We're being handcuffed by the state of Illinois and their irresponsible actions," Sartoris said. "I can't go on another year like this."

 

I have done some printing for 2 state reps (not election stuff), and it took me 6 months to get paid on one ($700), and 10 months on the other ($850) and that oone was shorted by almost $100. I know what these guys are going thru.

[NUKE_CLEVELAND]

None of this surprises me. Last decent governor we had in IL was Edgar.

[SoxFanForever]

What is a "deabeat"?

[NUKE_CLEVELAND]

What is a "deabeat"?

 

 

There's a rash of typos on here today.

[EvilMonkey]

What is a "deabeat"?

Geeze.....ok, arthritic fingers missed a key. Deabeat = deadbeat.

[SoxFanForever]

Geeze.....ok, arthritic fingers missed a key.  Deabeat = deadbeat.

Sorry, I had to

[southsider2k5]

I wonder how IL would react if I paid my taxes 62 days late...