Good afternoon,

I have received an email from Kim Maisch, NFIB/IL Director, relaying an alarming news story regarding the Governor’s plan for health care in Illinois. I have contacted Mark Grant, who coordinates the Illinois NFIB Area Action Councils and he has agreed to help us get an event scheduled around the time of the release of more details regarding Blagojevich’s plan.

I urge each of you to read the following article and let me know your interest in having an event where we can ask questions to someone who understands the State’s budget situation and become more prepared to slow this down!

Thanks for your support of small business!

Keith R. Wheeler

Responsive Network Services LLC

866-RNS-8300

http://www.responsive.us/

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Governor aims to insure all
Crain's Chicago Business

By Mike Colias
Feb. 02, 2007

Gov. Rod Blagojevich will unveil a plan next month to offer health coverage for all of the state's 1.7 million uninsured, sending most of the $2-billion-plus annual tab to businesses.

The governor and his staff outlined the proposal in recent meetings with key lawmakers, advocacy groups and health care providers, say several people who attended the briefings. Gov. Blagojevich is considering raising corporate tax rates to pay for most of the plan, says one person he briefed.

Still in draft form, the proposal would expand the state's Medicaid program to cover about 500,000 poor residents who now don't qualify for aid. Another key component: state subsidies to help low-income workers afford health insurance from employers or from a state fund created as part of Gov. Blagojevich's plan.

The Democratic governor's initiative comes as a high-profile Republican, California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, is attracting national attention for his own health care reform. Gov. Schwarzenegger, whom Gov. Blagojevich visited last week, has introduced a $12-billion plan to cover that state's 6.5 million uninsured. Gov. Blagojevich, praised nationally for making Illinois the first state to insure all of its children, is returning the spotlight to his signature issue.

"Blagojevich has been prominent on health care reform, and I think he probably worries that other states are leapfrogging ahead of him," says Jim Nowlan, a professor at the University of Illinois Institute of Government and Public Affairs.

Govs. Blagojevich and Schwarzenegger discussed health care reform at an event in California last week. The governors also announced an energy research partnership.

The administration isn't ready to discuss the plan until the governor unveils some details during his budget address in March, Deputy Gov. Sheila Nix says.

"We're meeting with legislators, advocates and providers trying to get everyone's best ideas on a health care plan," she says.

Another potential revenue stream is an assessment on employers that don't already offer health insurance to their workers. The so-called "employer mandate" was a key element of a 216-page report issued last month by a state task force that spent 18 months crafting a strategy to extend health coverage to all Illinois residents.

That group estimates that an employer mandate could generate about $1.5 billion annually. Gov. Blagojevich hasn't decided on that option, say people familiar with his plans. They say he is leaning against another task force proposal: an "individual mandate," which would require state residents who don't have health insurance to buy a policy.

Without such a requirement, it's likely that hundreds of thousands of residents would remain uninsured because they wouldn't sign up, health policy experts say. The administration estimates the plan would cost $2.5 billion a year, assuming every resident is covered, say four people briefed by the governor's staff.

Business groups argue that the governor shouldn't pay for his plan at the expense of employers who already offer coverage.

"Employers already provide health care at tremendous expense to more than half the population," says Todd Maisch, vice- president of government affairs at the Illinois State Chamber of Commerce.

TASK FORCE RECOMMENDATIONS

The plan probably won't call for significantly raising Medicaid payments to doctors and hospitals. The task force had recommended such an increase to cushion the impact of the expected influx of new Medicaid patients.

But the governor has embraced several suggestions from the 28-member group of doctors, hospital administrators, lawmakers, consumer advocates and insurance brokers.

One example: offering premium subsidies on a sliding scale to people who make up to four times the federal poverty level so they can buy insurance through work or from a state-sponsored plan. That would qualify individuals who make $40,840 or less.

It could prove difficult for Gov. Blagojevich to persuade the Legislature to back a sweeping health reform plan, given competing needs for education, mass transit and underfunded pensions. But "it'll be tough for any legislator to come out against expanding health care," says the U of I's Mr. Nowlan.

It's also uncertain how much support Gov. Blagojevich will have if he tries to pin much of the cost on business. Business groups in 2004 beat back the governor's proposal to tax companies on leases of large amounts of computer software, which would have raised $65 million for mass transit.