State owes county $243 mil. in Medicaid: group
Funds would prevent layoffs, clinic closings
As the Cook County Board debates health-care cuts today, a research group is sounding an alarm that the county is being cheated out of money it could use to stave off most clinic closings and layoffs of doctors and nurses.
A new report by the Center for Tax and Budget Accountability concludes that the state is keeping $243.8 million in federal Medicaid funds that, by law, should be going to Cook County each year.
"The state is keeping federal dollars that were intended for Cook County -- that's the bottom line," said Heather O'Donnell, a center policy director. "Todd Stroger and the board of commissioners should press the state to turn over those federal funds."
State officials strongly disagree with the center's finding and predict potentially dire consequences for non-Cook County hospitals that serve the poor if the Medicaid pie is redistributed.
"I understand people are looking for dollars, but the way to look for dollars is not to take dollars from other vulnerable hospitals," said Barry Maram, state Healthcare and Family Services Department chief.
At the heart of the dispute is a pot of Medicaid money called BIPA, which Maram said the state is splitting through a deal inked with former County Board President John Stroger in 2002.
Maram said federal officials are aware of the arrangement and that it's perfectly legal.
But O'Donnell's research concludes that Congress created BIPA for "public hospitals serving a disproportionate number of Medicaid and low-income patients." Cook County is the only health system in Illinois that qualifies for it, she said.
"This is not a plea from Cook County for the state to bail it out," she said. "These are federal funds to which the county is entitled."
A Todd Stroger spokesman said Monday that Stroger wants to pursue getting the money from the state.
"[Todd Stroger] is encouraged to find that this highly regarded taxpayer advocacy group wholeheartedly agrees with his position that these monies should be turned over to county government post-haste," spokesman Steve Mayberry said.