Healthcare Solutions
If we can help contain healthcare costs and increase patients' access to care without growing government, shouldn't that be our preferred approach? Illinois can and should take common sense steps -- without growing government -- to improve access to quality, affordable healthcare in our state. These steps include:
- Cracking Down on Medicaid Fraud. Experts estimate that Medicaid fraud and overbilling consume more than 10% of all Medicaid spending. With Medicaid spending totaling over $13 billion in Illinois, we may be losing more than $1 billion annually to fraud and overbilling. As state representative, I will support increasing the state's budget for Medicaid fraud prevention and enforcement. Historically, for every $1 we spend on Medicaid fraud prevention and enforcement, we have recouped $13 in savings.[1] Thus, we can reasonably expect that increases in enforcement and prevention spending would be more than offset through savings.
- Tort Reform. Earlier this year, the Illinois Supreme Court invalidated Illinois' medical malpractice tort reform law -- a good law that passed the Illinois General Assembly with broad, bipartisan support. In the absence of such reforms, healthcare costs will only continue to rise, more good doctors will flee Illinois, and patients' access to affordable healthcare will suffer. For these reasons, we ought to reenact the portions of the bipartisan law that the Court did not question, explore new reform solutions, and potentially amend the state constitution to give the General Assembly the express authority to adopt such reforms.
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