Luechtefeld pleased with Medicaid reform

</element><element id="paragraph-1" type="body"><![CDATA[Landmark Medicaid reform has passed the Illinois Senate, saving taxpayers billions in long-term budget costs, according to State Sen. Dave Luechtefeld (R-Okawville).

"Today marks a turning point for the state. We will now be modernizing our Medicaid system," Luechtefeld said.

The key components of House Bill 5420, the Medicaid reform bill, include;

Long-Term Care Rebalancing, moving from institutionalizing patients to community-based settings;

Information sharing between the Department of Revenue and the Secretary of State to provide residency information for new and current applicants;

Limits AllKids eligibility for income to 300 percent of the Federal Poverty Level;

Eligibility verification to ensure only Illinois residents receive benefits;

Managed Care of at least 50 percent of Medicaid clients; and

2 year moratorium on the expansion of AllKids, Medicaid and ICHIP.

Luechtefeld noted that these historic reforms have been advocated for several years by the Senate Republican Caucus. With the state's massive $15 billion deficit looming, the legislative majorities are beginning to heed the warning and make critical budget-saving measures.

"These reforms are long overdue. It's only too bad that this situation was not handled sooner. Long ago, our state's fiscal health was overtaken by poor choices like expansions of entitlements that we could not afford," Luechtefeld concluded.