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Health-care expansion rules decision on hold

Posted February 13, 2008 10:00 pm

Adriana Colindres

A bipartisan panel of lawmakers wants to hear what Gov. Rod Blagojevich has to say about state government's finances before it decides whether to approve rules implementing his proposal to expand health-care access.

The panel, known as the Joint Committee on Administrative Rules, met Wednesday but postponed until Feb. 26 its consideration of rules dealing with a larger Family Care program. The governor's desired expansion would add 147,000 Illinoisans to the program, which allows uninsured parents or guardians to qualify for discounted medical treatment.

"The (governor's) budget address is on the 20th," said Sen. Dan Rutherford, a Chenoa Republican who is on JCAR. "We're going to just stop everything and wait until the 26th and have the benefit of the governor's budget address."

Still unclear, for instance, is how much the Family Care expansion would cost, Rutherford said.

JCAR members agreed to postpone a decision on the Family Care rules despite objections from officials with the Illinois Department of Healthcare and Family Services, which runs the program.

During the meeting, Sen. Maggie Crotty, an Oak Forest Democrat who serves as JCAR co-chairman, asked HFS officials if they would agree to extend the time period for considering the rules. At present, the deadline is Feb. 27.

HFS Director Barry Maram and chief of staff Tamara Hoffman balked at the request.

"We feel this is a very imperative issue," Maram said.

Hoffman told JCAR members that HFS officials believe they'd have the right to move forward with adoption of the rules immediately.

Later in the day, Blagojevich spokeswoman Rebecca Rausch said: "It was our hope that JCAR would have approved the Family Care rules (Wednesday). Since they didn't, we look forward to working with the committee to make the rules permanent at its next meeting on the 26th."

JCAR and the Blagojevich administration previously have been at odds over the proposed "emergency" rules to implement an expanded Family Care program. But the matter now before JCAR deals with the non-emergency version of those rules.

The issue dates to last year, when Blagojevich unsuccessfully tried to convince lawmakers to approve his plan to expand government-subsidized health-care coverage.

HFS, one of the state agencies under the governor's control, in November filed an emergency administrative rule to expand the income-eligibility guidelines for Family Care.

JCAR blocked the emergency rule from taking effect, but the governor went ahead with his plans. People already are receiving medical care through the expanded program, Rausch said Wednesday.

Blagojevich's decision to bypass JCAR prompted a court battle, which is ongoing. Riverside attorney Richard Caro, former Republican gubernatorial candidate Ronald Gidwitz and Greg Baise, president of the Illinois Manufacturers' Association sued, saying the Democratic governor overstepped his authority by expanding a program the General Assembly did not fund.

Adriana Colindres can be reached at (217) 782-6292.

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