FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
March 4, 2005                                                                                   

Speaker Madigan Sponsors Northbrook Summit on State Finances and the Budget

Nursing Home Spokesperson to Address Funding Crisis in Long Term Care

WHAT:            Spokesperson Stanton Aron, representing the Illinois Council on Long Term Care, will provide testimony about the ongoing Medicaid funding crisis for Illinois nursing homes during Speaker Madigan’s Summit on State Finances and the Budget. While Illinois has one of the nation’s ten largest economies, it still ranks among the three lowest states in the nation for nursing home Medicaid funding. Two-thirds of all Illinois nursing home residents depend on the Medicaid program for their care, totaling more than 57,000 individuals. Illinois’ chronic underfunding is placing the health and well-being of these elderly citizens at risk.

WHY:               Medicaid accounts for 26.8 percent of the total state budget. For the past two decades, Illinois nursing homes have been surviving hand-to-mouth with their inadequate Medicaid funding levels. During the past 10 years, costs at Illinois nursing homes have risen 67 percent, while Medicaid funding has only increased by 31 percent. This disparity makes it extremely difficult for facilities to attract and retain staff; provide effective health care treatments; and meet the quality of life needs of the resident they serve. The time has come for the state to take drastic action in changing the ways it finances its nursing home Medicaid program.

WHO:              Representative Kathleen A. Ryg, D-59, Vernon Hills; Representative Elaine Nekritz, D-57, Northbrook; and Representative Karen May, D-58, Highland Park will host the summit. It is expected that dozens of the north suburbs’ community and business leaders will attend this meeting to discuss the future of the Illinois budget.

WHERE            Northbrook Village Hall, City Council Chambers, 1225 Cedar Lane, Northbrook,
AND WHEN:     Saturday, March 5, 2005, from 10:00 a.m. to 1 p.m.

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The Illinois Council on Long Term Care is a professional association of nearly 200 nursing facilities committed to quality residential health care in Illinois through a productive and responsible partnership between the private and public sectors. The Council represents more than 26,000 nursing home professionals serving more than 37,000 residents.