-- Connecting the dots between our economy, government and business --
Summary and audio linked here.
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.
Expect no retraction or apology. This what they do.
The state’s existing buyout program for its own pensions is the precedent for Chicago, which should be a warning: Look out for similar exaggerated claims and shoddy analysis.
Full interview and summary linked here.
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It’s a government run program, what do you expect. Maybe the afscme workers don’t have enough Tandy 2000 computers, pencils and abacuses to do the job!
I assume all the bill processor state employees are afscme, who where so vehemently upposed to rauner outsourcing thier jobs and wanted them back. Then mendoza and others on behalf of gov unions launched study discrediting rauners outscourced billing contractor. Rauners billing contractors contract was cancelled, putting billing jobs back in the hands of afscme. And this is what we get…..meanwhile i believe i was reading, cc is going the opposite direction, admiting the paperwork billing situation is a disaster and looking to outsource its billing/accounting for countycare. Maybe they could bring in dorthy brown to strengthen things out
Also, frighteningly sad state of affairs os major revenue scource for cc is medicaid fed reimburesments thru state..they’re desperate for cash
I know this sounds like something that could never happen, but it would appear that a healthcare system run by Illinois and Cook County is totally screwed up.
But hiring more people must be the answer. More employees on the dole and nothing will get better anyway
Medicaid recipients are often, I guess you could say, the least sophisticated group of people. They are not good with paperwork and that’s a generous assessment of their paperwork completing abilities. It’s not surprising there is a 72,000 application back log, especially if those 72,000 applications are likely the least sophisticated or most borderline qualified of the lot. “Letters sent to Medicaid enrollees to verify their eligibility get lost in the mail.” Letters don’t get lost in the mail – the enrollees are often transient and don’t have a steady address. Or they don’t ever check or read their mail.… Read more »
The truth is that things like Medicaid, sorry to say but it’s worse for everyone not to tell the truth, don’t improve outcomes for those that “use” it. It’s primarily about votes and emotional appeals to a “safety net.” Like most freebie programs, recipients don’t have skin in the game. Most commonly these are the least educated, lowest IQ, and highest risk people. Bluntly, it is a waste of taxpayer money. Public or county health systems don’t even collect (though they likely bill a fair amount) a high number of the free care they give. I’ve seen the care, most… Read more »
http://files.kff.org/attachment/fact-sheet-medicaid-state-IL (sorry it links to annoying file type, PDF)… 60% of Medicaid expenditures in Illinois pay for the 20% of Medicaid recipients that are elderly or disabled. It’s a small group of people in long term care that cost the state the most money. Over half of Illinois nursing home residents are paid by Medicaid. The remaining 80% of medicaid patients are kids and their adult parents, and the vast majority of this group are children, given that 3 in 8 children in the state are on Medicaid. Kids need medical care. Kids don’t get to choose who their parents… Read more »
Regarding the obesity wouldn’t you think that there would be some sort of restriction on food stamps that only dietitian approved healthy food would only qualify for the subsidy?