State Budget Cuts Take Health Centers for a Ride
July 9, 2010 | Lee
Can you say “rollercoaster?”
Ok: “Rollercoaster!”
Last week Governor Quinn announced $1.4 billion in cuts to the Fiscal Year 2011 (FY11) state operating budget. These cuts and the rest of the budget went into effect July 1, 2010. We now have a little more information on what this will mean to community health centers in our state, including the impact on Erie Family Health Center.
We could be talking a big impact here as community health centers in our state now serve over 1 million patients in Illinois. A recent Perspectives article in the New England Journal of Medicine notes that 7.6% of Illinois residents receive their health care from a community health center like Erie (tops is West Virginia, 19.1%, bottoms are Minnesota and Virginia, 2.9%).
Before we get to the state’s FY11 budget, it’s important to note that there is still unfinished business from FY10.
Illinois ran in the red to the tune of $13 billion in FY10. Needless to say, payments to vendors are way behind. Springfield currently owes Erie payments for services already provided in high risk case management for pregnant women, breast cancer prevention, and oral health services. That’s for last year. Erie is in the same boat as many other state vendors as Illinois tries to figure out how to pay the nearly $6 billion in back payments for FY10. The state comptroller says maybe service providers will (maybe) get last year’s payments by December.
According to Jill Hayden at the Illinois Primary Health Care Association, in the Governor’s introduced budget, the Department of Public Health (IDPH) was to take a $13 million cut from the FY10 appropriation. IDPH traditionally has offered competitive opportunities for health centers to expand services with 3 to 4 year jump-start grants. Under this most recent announcement, the Department is to take a $17 million cut plus another $7 million to be held in reserve – resulting in the following: all funding is eliminated for downstate and rural health grants; community health center new expansion grant opportunities are cut, existing health center expansion grants are cut to 50% of promised funding.
Additionally, the Illinois Department of Human Services will have fewer dollars to grant in FY11. Erie anticipates cuts in family planning and high risk pregnancy case management funding.
Last night, Erie Family Health Center’s Board of Directors passed our FY11 budget. Built into the budget were our best predictions for State of Illinois budget cuts and payment delays. We are continuing our case management services, family planning, and oral health services by using innovative strategies to adjust. Our budget process this year was incredibly tough as we worked closely with our dedicated Board of Directors to create out of the box methods of balancing our own budget to ensure services continue for our patients.
As we move forward into FY11, the roller coaster for community health centers and other state agencies continues. When will we receive our payments for services rendered last year? What will happen after the November elections? How can we continue to meet the growing demand for health care when our funding continues to be cut? The ups and downs of the state budget crisis did not end last week when Governor Quinn signed off on the budget. And this roller coaster will keep going until Illinois is able to present a budget that balances revenues and expenses, while still maintaining vital services such as health care. Until then, Erie will continue to implement innovative strategies to ensure that our patients receive the quality care they need and deserve. As always, we stay tuned and hope for the best.
