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SPRINGFIELD -- Today, Governor JB Pritzker delivered his annual
budget address virtually, introducing his proposal for Fiscal
Year 2022 (FY22). IPHCA commends Governor Pritzker for
prioritizing racial justice and eliminating disparities, and his
commitment to protecting our state’s health care and human
services systems. However, we urge the Governor and the General
Assembly to make a greater investment in strengthening the
communities that have been hit hardest by the COVID-19 pandemic
and long suffered from a lack of resources and investment.
We agree that the safety net must be protected. As part of the
Governor’s commitment to advancing equity, it is imperative not
only to shield health care and human services from cuts, but to
strengthen funding for this vital system of support that equips
individuals, families, and communities to live healthy lives and
thrive. Community health centers services are inextricably
linked to social services that address all of a patient’s needs,
including their social determinants of health.
Health and human service programs are the backbones of robust
communities and they are currently in high demand as a result of
the devastating COVID-19 public health emergency that has left
millions of Illinoisans facing grief, loss, illness,
unemployment, isolation, and housing and food insecurity.
Moreover, the pandemic has been particularly distressing for
communities of color, immigrant communities, and low income
communities – exacerbating the challenges they already face as a
result of historic underinvestment and marginalization.
It has been said before that a budget is a moral document. As
such, we urge the Governor to work with the General Assembly and
stakeholders to:
strengthen funding for health care and human services, including
community health centers;
preserve coverage and payment parity for telehealth, which has
proven to be a convenient and indispensable option for patients
and providers;
maximize Medicaid dollars by investing in programs that will
achieve long-term savings as well as improved outcomes, and give
providers flexibility to innovate and better meet the needs of
their patients;
address our state’s chronic health care professional shortages
by increasing funding for student loan repayment programs like
the Illinois National Health Service Corps Program;
release the $50 million in capital dollars appropriated to
community health centers by the General Assembly in FY20, to
address health care deserts by building new infrastructure in
our underserved communities;
and
expand reliable, affordable broadband access, along with tech
literacy and devices, to bridge the digital divide and ensure
universal access to telehealth regardless of income or zip code.
As a new legislative session gets underway and the state budget
continues to take shape, we look forward to partnering with
Governor Pritzker’s Administration and the General Assembly to
ensure equity is not just a goal but a reality. By doing our
part to grow access to primary health care in underserved
communities, we can strengthen health outcomes for all
Illinoisans.
ABOUT IL PRIMARY HEALTH CARE ASSOCIATION
IPHCA is a health care trade association representing Illinois’
51 community health centers that collectively serve more than
1.4 million patients at 390 sites statewide. Community health
centers provide accessible, comprehensive and integrated
services and are known for providing high quality outcomes while
substantially reducing health care expenditures, saving the
state of Illinois nearly $2 billion on an annual basis according
to an independent economic analysis.
[Ryan Keith
RK PR Solutions]
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