Medicaid, tax package highlights
By DAVE McKINNEY Springfield bureau chief dmckinney@suntimes.com June 14, 2012 12:34PM
Updated: July 16, 2012 6:25AM
the highlights
The Medicaid and tax legislation:
♦ Raises Illinois’ 98-cent-a-pack cigarette tax by $1, moving Illinois’ tax rate up from 31st-highest in the nation to 15th-highest. Increase takes effect June 24.
♦ Eliminates the Illinois Cares Rx program, which provides 180,000 low-income seniors with $72 million a year in prescription drug subsidies.
♦ Cuts income eligibility for the Family Care health-insurance program, affecting 26,400 people and saving taxpayers $49 million a year.
♦ Cuts optional services for Medicaid recipients, reducing access to adult eyeglasses to one pair every two years, podiatry care for all but diabetes patients and chiropractic care entirely.
♦ Requires a total of $15 million a year in “cost-sharing” from families with “medically fragile” children who rely on ventilators and receive in-home nursing services.
