Issue Position: Health Care

Issue Position

Prioritizing Health Care

As a former practicing health care attorney, and someone who is married to a doctor, Dan Hynes has a personal connection and passion for the right to accessible, affordable and quality health care. As Comptroller, he fought for ten years to appropriately fund the Medicaid program, expand access to our most vulnerable citizens and invest in cutting edge medical research that brought hope to millions of Illinoisans. Throughout his career, Dan made health care a priority and he will continue that passion and commitment as Governor of Illinois.

From taking on George Ryan and Rod Blagojevich for balancing the budget on the backs of our Medicaid providers, to authoring and championing legislation to end budgetary loopholes that have crushed health care access, Dan has been fighting for ten years to properly fund our Medicaid program. When Springfield resisted his calls for reform, Dan stepped out of the traditional role of Comptroller and commissioned a survey of Medicaid recipients to determine how well patients are able to access quality health care. Nearly 70% of the more than 4,000 people who responded said they had trouble finding a doctor. Following these stunning statistics, Dan traveled the state and conducted town hall meetings with patients, doctors and providers so people could share their stories about the lack of quality health care for their families. In response to these findings, Dan wrote legislation aiming to end the budgetary abuses and pay our providers in a timely fashion. He also organized a lobby day in Springfield with hundreds of patients, doctors and advocates and demanded passage of his Medicaid and budgetary reform legislation.

Not only has Dan advocated for reforms to our Medicaid system, but he has also been a resourceful manager of the state's finances making our taxpayer dollars stretch as far as possible. Specifically, he has used innovative cash management techniques and leveraged billions of federal dollars to maximize our revenues and bring relief to thousands of health care providers. Additionally, Dan has been a long-time proponent of recalculating the state's Medicaid reimbursement rate from the federal government. Now that the state has a temporarily increased reimbursement rate thanks to the federal stimulus program, he will work with the Obama Administration to make it permanent and bring a more appropriate level of Medicaid dollars back to the state.

Dan has also been the leading voice for stem cell research in Illinois. This cutting edge medical research has brought hope to millions of families dealing with debilitating diseases. Specifically, Dan not only worked with disease advocates from across the state to allow stem cell research in Illinois, but fought tirelessly to secure state funding. His efforts culminated in the creation of the Illinois Regenerative Medicine Institute (IRMI) in 2005. IRMI awarded $10 million in grants to medical research facilities for the development of stem cell-based treatments and cures, making Illinois the first state in the Midwest to commit public funds to this life-saving work.

As Governor, Dan will continue to prioritize health care and will work to ensure that Medicaid is properly funded and Illinoisans have the best access and quality possible. He will also continue his fight to make Illinois the center of cutting edge medical research and development so Illinois can be the land of hope for so many families across the country. Dan will be unveiling a health care plan in the coming weeks that will focus on expanding access to health care, ensuring better quality with healthy outcomes, and containing costs and increasing efficiencies within our system.

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