Democratic Lawmakers Pitch Medicaid Payment Changes

A group of Democratic lawmakers in Springfield say if Illinois’ Medicaid managers can’t pay hospitals faster, the state may need to eliminate those managers. The lawmakers say Illinois’ safety net hospitals are suffering under the state’s managed care system. Managed care is supposed to help the nearly three-million people on Medicaid in the state by getting them to the doctor regularly, rather than waiting for them to show up in an emergency room. State Senator Kimberly Lightford though said yesterday that managed care is short-changing hospitals and denying care. If there aren’t changes, Lightford said maybe it’s time to abandon managed care.