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Rep. Bill Mitchell comments on
governor's speech
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[OCT. 26, 2005]
SPRINGFIELD -- State Rep. Bill Mitchell,
R-Forsyth, said that the governor's speech before a joint session of
the Illinois General Assembly resembled a campaign stump speech and
lacked important details about his All Kids proposal.
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Mitchell said while he supports the concept of ensuring all children
have access to health care, he has serious concerns that he had
hoped the governor would address during his speech. "The governor
is trying to ram this proposal through the General Assembly in a
six-day veto session without giving us the adequate information we,
as lawmakers, need to make informed decisions," said Mitchell. "I
agree this is something that we ought to explore, but I have serious
reservations about how we pay for it, how much will it cost and how
many children would be affected. These are basic questions he did
not answer in his speech."
Mitchell said he is particularly concerned because the state is
in the process of borrowing $1 billion to pay its backlog of
Medicaid bills. This money will have to be repaid with interest,
while new bills accumulate.
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 "Doctors, dentists and pharmacist are already turning down
Medicaid patients because the state does such a poor job of
reimbursing them for their services," Mitchell said. "What is gained
by offering state-subsidized health care to families if we can't
afford it and providers are forced to turn patients away?"
"This governor knows how to use Washington-style campaign tactics
and will promise voters the moon to get re-elected," Mitchell said.
"He will promise anything that sounds good, without any regard to
how we will pay for it."
[From
Rep. Bill Mitchell]
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