An Illinois House committee has delayed voting on plans to change how hospitals receive Medicaid dollars as two Chicago hospitals say a revised formula could force them to close.
Members of the Appropriations-Human Services Committee said Tuesday they are still working on the plan to address federal requirements that more Medicaid clients be covered by cost-cutting managed-care systems.
Roseland Community Hospital and South Shore Hospital both serve impoverished Chicago communities. The so-called safety-net hospitals' patients are overwhelmingly on Medicaid and the formula doesn't make up for losses.
Administrators say they will be forced to close. Chicago Democratic state Rep. Camille Lilly says safety-net closures are unacceptable.
The Illinois Health and Hospital Association CEO A.J. Wilhelmi pledges to examine the program's impact on hospitals in low-income communities.
