A New Way on Health Care:

We Can Make a Difference Here in Illinois

I believe every American has the right to high quality, affordable health care. As President Obama has rightly insisted, “health care reform is not a luxury. It’s a necessity we cannot defer.” This critical reform must come from Congress, but there is much that can be done at the state level as well. Illinois can lead the nation by implementing progressive health care policies ensuring industry transparency, better medical outcomes, and greater access to care for all those who need it.

I know the Illinois health care system well, and through my work I’ve enrolled Medicaid beneficiaries with primary care providers, improved prescription drug coverage for low-income seniors, and helped to ensure the survival of Cook County’s public health care system. I’ve listened to patients, doctors, and nurses across our area. I am committed to ensuring that their voices are heard so that we can find real solutions for a seriously troubled health care system.

Let's Hold Medical Insurers Accountable

Illinois’ medical insurers operate virtually unchecked. The lack of industry transparency and accountability has led to insurance rates that are unpredictable and unaffordable for small businesses, families, and individuals. This must change.

Fewer and fewer of our premium dollars are going towards the provision of health care. Instead, our premium dollars are being spent on outrageous CEO salaries and corporate bureaucracy. We in Illinois need to rein in out-of-control administrative costs to ensure that patients receive the health care they need – and they’ve paid for. Illinoisans can no longer tolerate necessary medical procedures being refused by insurance companies that are looking only to pad their bottom-lines, nor can they accept being denied access to health insurance because of “pre-existing conditions.”

I will fight for statewide standards to guarantee that insurance companies spend a greater percentage of premium dollars on medical care rather than administrative costs and executive compensation. I will fight to ensure that patients who need care receive it.

Let's Provide Better Care in our Hospitals

According to a landmark study by the Institute of Medicine (IOM), every year thousands of patients die in Illinois hospitals as a result of preventable complications. Many of these deaths occur simply because our doctors and nurses are stretched too thin. By addressing understaffing in our medical institutions and supporting our health care workers, we can avoid many of these tragedies in the future.

I’ve spoken with nurses all across the State of Illinois, and there’s a clear pattern in what they report: nurses are consistently working long overtime hours and handling overwhelming patient loads. The low nurse-to-patient ratio in Illinois has resulted in a poor working environment and detrimental health outcomes.

I believe that the more registered nurses we have working in Illinois hospitals, the better our hospital surveillance system for early detection and prompt intervention will be. It’s common sense: more nurses per patient translates to better care for patients. It’s good fiscal sense too: at a time of rising health care costs, having a greater number of registered nurses available to assess patients on an ongoing basis will lead to long-term cost savings for our state. Keeping Illinois patients’ conditions from deteriorating saves the state, hospitals, and patients’ money over the long-term.

I will fight to create a common-sense Patient to Nurse Ratio standard for Illinois in order to protect patients, improve working conditions for our doctors and nurses, create new jobs, and decrease medical costs.

Let's Ensure That Every Illinois Resident Has Access to Health Care

Nowhere is the effect of the recession more apparent than in our health care system. Even as our state’s unemployment rate continues to climb – it’s now over 10% - health care costs have skyrocketed. Between 2000 and 2007, working families saw a 73% increase in their health care premiums. It’s troubling, but not surprising, that increasing numbers of Illinois residents – many of them our friends, neighbors, or colleagues – find themselves uninsured or underinsured. When faced with medical crises they have no choice but to turn to the health care “safety net”: public hospitals, emergency rooms, and charity care. Unfortunately, this safety net is simply inadequate to provide medical care for those who must rely on it.

Under Illinois state law, non-profit hospitals are required to offer charity-care services in exchange for a property tax exemption. Currently, however, the value of uncompensated and reduced-cost care that non-profit hospitals actually provide is dwarfed by the savings their tax-exempt status brings them.

I have met many patients who have been given CTA passes, Metra tickets, and prescription pads with directions to Stroger Hospital, due to their lack of insurance or comprehensive coverage. The practice of patient dumping unfairly burdens the public safety net, and allows other hospitals to pass off the expense of providing charity care. We must create innovative public policy initiatives to establish a more equitable financial framework for Illinois’ health care system. It’s fair, and it’s best for patients.

I will fight to ensure that medical institutions in Illinois pay their fair share in providing care for the uninsured and underinsured.