-- Connecting the dots between our economy, government and business --
Illinois will need about 900 additional primary-care clinicians in 2025 and 1,100 additional providers by 2030 to meet demand. In 2022, Illinois had more than 100 Health Professional Shortage Areas, with about 60% in rural areas. According to the Illinois Center for Rural Health, of the 12.7 million people living in Illinois, more than 1.4 million -- about 11% -- live in rural Health Professional Shortage Areas.
SIGN UP HERE FOR FREE WIREPOINTS DAILY NEWSLETTER
FOLLOW US
WIREPOINTS ORIGINAL STORIES
Audio and summary Illinois bill would override local law to allow homeless living in all public parks – Wirepoints
April 14, 2026
29 Comments
If this bill passes, say goodbye to local control over all Illinois parks and expect to see open drug and alcohol use, needles, no sanitation and fire hazards, but no ordinary park users.
Mark Glennon on AM560’s Morning Answer: Chicago Fiscal Crisis Worse Than Pre-Bankruptcy Detroit, HIV Surge and Public Health Threat From Open Borders Goes Unreported
April 10, 2026
2 Comments
Summary and audio linked here.
Mark Glennon on AM560’s Morning Answer: Chicago pension buyout plan mostly shifts debt rather than eliminating it, property tax surge doubles inflation over three decades
April 3, 2026
9 Comments
Chicago’s political leadership is floating a pension buyout program as evidence it is seriously addressing the city’s thirty-six-billion-dollar unfunded pension liability, but Mark Glennon, founder of the Illinois policy research organization Wirepoints, said that the proposal moves debt from one column to another rather than reducing it, and that the broader fiscal picture facing the city continues to deteriorate across every measurable dimension. Audio here.
WBEZ and Chicago Sun-Times falsely blame Texas Gov. Abbott for 2020 to 2024 surge in Chicago Latino HIV, AIDS infections – Wirepoints Quickpoint
March 31, 2026
11 Comments
Expect no retraction or apology. This what they do.
Give away medical care for free (medicaid) and demand skyrockets. Heck, 25% of the state is on medicaid. All your medical care for free, including child genital mutilation!
What? Now we don’t have enough doctors to provide all that free medical care! How did this happen! Must fix now! Make more DIE doctors now to solve this problem!
Percentage of Population Enrolled in Medicaid or CHIP by State
https://www.medicaid.gov/state-overviews/scorecard/percentage-of-population-enrolled-medicaid-or-chip-state/index.html
Provider Notice Issued 01/09/2020 re: Gender-affirming Services This notice seeks to inform providers of the Department’s adoption of amendments to 89 Ill. Adm. Code Sections 140.412; 140.413; and 140.440 regarding the provision of gender-affirming services to medical assistance program participants. These rulemakings remove transsexual surgery from the list of physician services specifically excluded from coverage and payment and establish the Department’s requirements for reimbursement for gender-affirming services. Service Effective Date Effective with dates of service on or after January 1, 2020, the Department will reimburse for gender-affirming surgeries subject to the establishment of medical necessity and prior authorization. … Read more »
Yet absolutely zero talk about Medicaid reform. This is an area that doesn’t have the same constitutional protections as contracts yet we (our portion not feds) spend 14 billion per year. So instead we complain about money being spent on areas that can’t be cut according to our constitution.
As I’ve stated many times, plenty of money for our required spending just not enough for everything else.
Half of state Medicaid spending is for nursing homes and long term care facilities. The reality is that IL has a lot of poor elderly on the government medical dole. The elderly have always been the poorest people in every society, especially those without children able to take care of them. Unfortunately, the state creates two unequal classes of elderly people – the poor folk who get nothing more than social security, and the rich thieving pensioners who, just happened to work for a governmental unit (usually through fraud, or nepotism or other nefarous mean), they pilfer and steal from… Read more »
So people who exchanged their labor for a stable retirement are in the wrong and people who did nothing to save for old age are deserving? You’re logic is twisted like a pretzel. Probably why the courts don’t agree with your attempted theft.
“Physicians today are struggling with large caseloads, requirements to keep exams short, administrative demands, insurance requirements,”
After our doctor’s small practice merged with a larger practice it became increasingly difficult to get an appointment. When I did see my doctor, she often seemed frazzled and the appointment felt rushed. So I wasn’t too surprised when she decided to retire a few years ago, guess she’d had enough.
I ran into a old HS classmate who is a doctor. He had a practice with another Dr. they decided to merge into a large practice, since mandated computer upgrades were going to cost over $1 million.
Most Dr.s will state that part they hate most about the job is the all the paperwork (well computer work)
I’ve got bad news for Illinois. Soon there’ll be a shortage of productive taxpaying citizens. You know the givers as opposed to takers. You can kind of see it now in public places that can’t seem to find people that want to work.