 Gov. Pat Quinn's proposed budget cuts for fiscal 2012 would
eliminate the Circuit Breaker program to save the state $24.2
million. The Circuit Breaker program provides seniors and those with
disabilities with property tax grants and license plate discounts.
Illinois Cares Rx, also on the chopping block, helps seniors and the
disabled pay for prescription drugs. The program costs the state
$107 million.Health care agencies hashed out details about the
cuts this week during a House budget making meeting.
Julie Hamos, director of Illinois Department of Healthcare and
Family Services, discussed the need to control spending.
Seniors make up 5.42 percent of Medicaid enrollment, while those
with disabilities make up 8.6 percent, Hamos said. Seniors account
for 17 percent of total spending, and the disabled account for 37
percent of total spending, she said.
"In the Medicaid program, overall, seniors and disabled adults
account for a majority of the spending across the board," Hamos
said. "Even though the greatest portion of enrollment, of course, is
children, but they do not account for the greatest spending. So that
is an important consideration."
The goal is to focus on strengthening community-based care,
relying less on institutional-based care, Hamos said.
"The goals right now of long-term care re-balancing are to
provide a higher quality of life for our seniors and disabled adults
in community settings," Hamos said. "But (it's) also to really focus
in on the high spending that we do to try and provide for more
cost-effective approaches to serving people."
However, state Rep. Rosemary Mulligan, R-Des Plaines, said the
Circuit Breaker program has been operating for a number of years,
serving many low-income seniors.
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"How do you think seniors in Illinois are going to manage without
the Circuit Breaker?" she asked.
Illinois Department on Aging Director Charles Johnson testified in
support of the governor's budget recommendation to eliminate the
Circuit Breaker program.
"I am certain that there will be older persons that will be
impacted," Johnson said. "And the money they expected to get back,
they will not have access to that money."
But Johnson noted that budget discussions are ongoing.
"I think it was clear from the outset that we would have some
programs that would be cut," he said, "that we would not have the
luxury of continuing to fund everything that we funded last year at
an increased level or at the same level."
[Illinois
Statehouse News; By DIANE S.W. LEE]
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