Representative Barickman - Weekly update 04-29-2011

Jason expands on the HMO issues a little more in this week's email:

 By some accounts, this was a short week in Springfield.  We were only in Session on Tuesday through Thursday.  That said, I gladly sat through a 5-hour hearing that started on Wednesday at 4:00 p.m.  I still made it home for supper with Kristin, although it was more like a midnight snack by the time I got home...

I sit on the Higher Education Committee, and Wednesday's hearing focused on the elimination of the Health Alliance HMO under the state health insurance plan for state employees.  To anyone that isn't directly affected by this decision, it seems easy enough to ignore it.  They shouldn't.  This is an excellent example of why our state is in the financial condition it is in today.  In a nutshell, the Quinn Administration is attempting to move thousands of state employees to an insurance plan: (1) that the employees don't want, (2) that doesn't have an HMO network in place and has no plans to put it in place, and (3) that costs the employees more money.  The kicker is that this switch will cost the state millions of dollars more than the existing plan.  Why would we want to be spending more money, rather than explore opportunities to cut costs?  At the hearing, I was more than willing to advocate on behalf of the taxpayers of Illinois, as well as the thousands of constituents in my district that are directly impacted by this decision.  You can hear some of my remarks on my Facebook page.  Stay tuned for Gov. Quinn's response.

I try to reply to your personal emails at least weekly.  Please let me know what's on your mind.

Jason

I'm still not sure how this change is costing the state millions of dollars more than the existing plan. Anyone have the details?