CapitolFax.com - Latest Comments in Filan fires back

Re: Filan fires back

a friend — Fri, 01 Sep 2006 17:28:21 -0000

budget watcher...

i'll go at this with you one more time.

obviously I'm talking about 05 since everyone knows the the feds are still reviewing the 06 assessment. from reading the response prepared by filan, he seems to acknolwedge that as well. with hastert and the illinois hospital assn gunning for this, illinois is well positioned to get this approved for 06 (and remember, the hospital assessment is a five year arrangement, but still needs fed approval each of those years). as for block grants, the fee for service system you criticize allows the state to capture far more federal match than a block grant ever would. since the state is entitled to reimburse providers for any and all medicaid services, should the block grant run out we taxpayers are stuck paying the difference. so that means we either cut money from other programs, raise taxes, reduce rates to providers or throw people off healthcare. I don't think most people are ok with any of these sceanrios. as costs for heathcare increase (prescription drugs, medicial services, admin, etc), the fee for service model guarantees that the state receive at least 50 percent back on every dollar they spend. a block grant has zero flexibility for this and states are stuck with whatever congress decides to give us. again, block grants are bad for states and that's why not a one has adopted them.

shallow pharnyx...
shame on me for saying anything that might remotely seem supportive of this administration. I'm sure you have no biases, of course. with that said, yes, illinois does have the worst funded pensions, but that's been the case for several years and you may not like accepting the facts (since you seem far more comfortable with empty rhetoric), but it was the republicans and that created this mess over the last 20 years or so. and, the pensions were worse off, dare I day it, before blago. you may not like to hear that, but the truth is often hard to take.

Re: Filan fires back

Raoul Descender — Fri, 01 Sep 2006 10:15:34 -0000

Why do we need to have a shaman tell the tale of the numbers? Instead, the state and Mr. Filan's department especially, should produce financial statements and financial projections that are comprehensive and comprehensible. The complexity and tardiness of the state's financial reports obscure the state's real fiscal condition, a tactic that should be a outlawed.

Re: Filan fires back

Shallow Pharnyx — Fri, 01 Sep 2006 09:14:25 -0000

A friend? A friend of whom?- Blago? "also, not a single state in the nation uses a block grant to fund their mediciad programs. I hardly think that 49 other states could all be so wrongÃ¢â‚¬Â¦" We LIKE being in last place. 49 other states can't keep up with our lack of pension funding.

Re: Filan fires back

Shallow Pharnyx — Fri, 01 Sep 2006 08:56:03 -0000

Rich,
Will you be leaving this up over the holiday weekend? Please do.

Re: Filan fires back

Budget Watcher — Fri, 01 Sep 2006 01:23:27 -0000

A friend,
Assessments happened in FY05 but not in FY 06. It was a one year deal. One of us knows the facts. Again, if you don't believe me, call HFS tomorrow.

Also, block grant funding will obviously require a federal waiver. Illinois, more than any other state in the union, relies on funding schemes like assessments and intergorvernmental agreements. This makes Illinois reliant upon an inefficiency fee-for-service healthcare delivery model. The General Assembly commissioned a report two years ago by the Lewin Group that backs this up. Block grant funding circumvents this reliance upon funding schemes and would allow HMOs to manage care. The Illinois Hospital Association will hate the idea, so expect them to be critical.

Re: Filan fires back

a friend — Fri, 01 Sep 2006 01:06:51 -0000

budget watcher...

just one more note if you will about block grants. perhaps you didn't take the time to read my previous comments, so i'll return the favor and write slowly here for you as well...not a single state in the nation has adopted a block grant program for medicaid. perhaps you know something that all other 49 governors and general assemblies don't? perhaps you need to spread the block grant gospel to a wider audience because no one seems to hae gotten your memo. call me crazy, but I think you and topinka are in the minority here.

Re: Filan fires back

a friend — Fri, 01 Sep 2006 00:50:52 -0000

budget watcher...

the assessment didn't happen? that's funny considering that every major media outlet reported on the fact that the feds appproved the assessment, not to mention the fact that the hospitals paid the tax needed to generate proceeds off the assessment and then they and the state received the very federal funds that you claim don't exist. I wonder what that extra 80 million supplemental bill passed by the general assembly was for? you obviously have no idea what you are talking about.

Re: Filan fires back

Budget Watcher — Thu, 31 Aug 2006 23:51:55 -0000

One last point to a friend. The Comptroller's website can tell you whether hospitals got their money. The fund number is 346, the agency code 478, the division code 65 - submit the query and tell me why there's $1.218 billion in unexpended appropriations for FY06. The answer is because the assessment didn't happen. Check your own facts next time.

Re: Filan fires back

Budget Watcher — Thu, 31 Aug 2006 23:41:09 -0000

To A friend,
You can't lose what you never had - there was no assessment for hospitals. None. Wasn't approved by the feds in FY2006. No $500 million to hospitals, no $80 million to GRF, no $40 million to DD facilities, and no $60 million to nursing homes. Schoenberg sponsored the state bill authorizing the HFS to pursue an assessment, but the feds never approved it.

The second point, and I'm typing slow so you can understand, is that a federal block grant would compensate for the foregone funding schemes like assessment taxes and intergovernmental agreements with Cook County and the University of Illinois.

Re: Filan fires back

zatoichi — Thu, 31 Aug 2006 22:42:17 -0000

Where in Filan's response does he discuss how the State's debt will be paid? He goes on about flip flops and faulty assumptions. This would have been a great place to describe how the State will move to 45th place on the national economic ladder.

Re: Filan fires back

So Blue Democrat — Thu, 31 Aug 2006 22:06:48 -0000

Do you really think Filan wrote this response? No, it was probably want of his young workers in GOMB. If he really wrote it, I think he has too much time on his hands. He needs to worry about the crisis in state government.

Re: Filan fires back

Anonymous — Thu, 31 Aug 2006 22:02:57 -0000

No flip-flop by Topinka?! Good Lord. As Filan points out, Topinka wants to nearly triple the number of gaming positions, and build the biggest casino yet in Chicago. In the primary she specifically said she was against an expansion of gambling.

Anyone still saying that's not a flip-flop isn't sane.

Re: Filan fires back

Shallow Pharnyx — Thu, 31 Aug 2006 22:01:09 -0000

Rich,
You do realize that Filan had GOMB doing his numbers research?? Who did Rauschenbergers?

Re: Filan fires back

Little Egypt — Thu, 31 Aug 2006 21:57:43 -0000

It was my pleasure to scroll past Filan's crap and read just the bloggers. I agree though that this all could not have been done on his own personal time with his own personal computer.

Re: Filan fires back

a friend — Thu, 31 Aug 2006 21:40:42 -0000

budget watcher...

...you may need some new glasses. why don't you ask the illinois hospital assn about the 500 mil they're set to lose under topinka's plan, or ask sen. schoenburg (who sponsored the hospital assessment bill) about the 80 mil the state stands to lose -- don't take filan's word for it. get your facts straight for once, please.

also, not a single state in the nation uses a block grant to fund their mediciad programs. I hardly think that 49 other states could all be so wrong...

Re: Filan fires back

Budget Watcher — Thu, 31 Aug 2006 19:01:04 -0000

Filan's Medicaid "facts" are far from factual. There was no approved hospital assessment that generated over $600 million. Hospitals did not receive almost $500 million, there is no Developmenal Disabled assessment program worth $40 million, and GRF not not get $80 million. Liar is a pretty strong term, but he's awfully close on these items.

He also refuses to understand the reason for federal block grant funding, which is to replace the funding schemes that he claims will be lost under Topinka's plan. Sometimes I think he's purposely dense.

Re: Filan fires back

bob white — Thu, 31 Aug 2006 17:35:17 -0000

I disagree with those who thought Filan's response was strong. I thought it was vague and full of political answers that are besides the point.

Re: Filan fires back

Downstater — Thu, 31 Aug 2006 16:49:52 -0000

Anon 3:16,
Take off those rose colored glasses. Didn't you get the memo that Illinois is dead last in the nation in debt liability. Filan can spin all he wants, but eventually this debt that Blago and company has incurred is going to have to be paid off.

Re: Filan fires back

Bubs — Thu, 31 Aug 2006 16:44:28 -0000

Rich, he's the budget director and he won't tell us where his numbers are coming from, even when Rauchy challenged him on them!

I'm starting to think "FILAN" is a shorthand for "Frequently Is Loose About Numbers", (and I certainly was temped to use a much stronger word in the middle.)

Re: Filan fires back

Anonymous — Thu, 31 Aug 2006 16:16:51 -0000

Home Run by Mr. Filan. Nicely done.

Re: Filan fires back

anon — Thu, 31 Aug 2006 16:03:49 -0000

I'm sorry - if Filans mouth is moving he's lieing.

I mean this is the same guy who said that the states budget was balanced this last year. "we took in more money that we spent" Hell, any one can say that when you only pay interest on all the money we've borrowed the last three years, don't pay $2 BILLION worth of Medicaid bills, and skip a $1 BILLION pension payment.

By the way, didn't Filan use to write for some budget association he use to belong to until he got his pink slip?

Re: Filan fires back

Jaded — Thu, 31 Aug 2006 15:23:51 -0000

I have to agree with Rich, that was a pretty good response by Filan however I would like him to answer his own last question. He wrote:

"How did you determine your revenues and budget cuts? Are they real?Ã¢â‚¬Â Even TopinkaÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s spending is misleading and needs clarity, especially her education spending. Claiming it doesnÃ¢â‚¬â„¢t make it true. Her budget just doesnÃ¢â‚¬â„¢t add up."

That is what people have been saying about your budgets for 4 years now. Claiming it does not make it true Mr. Filan (who know like a Governor who says he has balanced the budget when there was still a $3 billion deficit). I am glad that you finally realize this fact.

Re: Filan fires back

Yellow Dog Democrat — Thu, 31 Aug 2006 15:13:36 -0000

I agree with Bubs. When do we get to see the numbers that purportedly back up the govenor's lottery proposal?

Re: Filan fires back

Rich Miller — Thu, 31 Aug 2006 15:09:24 -0000

Actually, "Sound Reasoning" I just sent an e-mail to Rauschenberger asking if he would pick apart what we know about the governor's plan. I'm also looking at letting the two campaign go after each other on energy and the environment.

Re: Filan fires back

Sound Reasoning — Thu, 31 Aug 2006 15:01:50 -0000

Rich, does the Governor have a plan yet? I thought he has refused to provide one until after the election.

Maybe it's easier to pick apart another's plan than provide any reasonable alternative.