Senate bill would reform Medicaid

Senate bill would reform Medicaid


From today's Northwest Herald:

SPRINGFIELD – Medicaid reform took a “bold” step Wednesday as the Illinois Senate approved a measure projected to save $800 million during the next five years. Lawmakers were assigned the task of tightening the $14 billion state-federal health care system in December and still were hashing out the details Wednesday morning.

All states are looking at Medicaid reforms in anticipation of the ramp-up of the federal health care law in 2014, when low-income single adults will be eligible to enroll. State Sen. Dale Righter, R-Charleston, said the proposal would return the “struggling” program to a safety net for the poor, instead of a catch-all for the potentially ineligible.

“It’s struggling for the people who need it the worst,” he said. “We’re talking about the people who are on the lowest rungs of the economic ladder, the people for whom access is a truly critical issue.

The legislation makes an attempt to crack down on fraud by setting up administrative hearings that can collect and fine individuals who have been scamming the system, and even refer the cases to local prosecutors.

The measure also tightens eligibility by requiring individuals to provide proof of Illinois residency and a month’s worth of income, and to periodically re-apply to the program.

The measure now heads to the House, where a vote is expected today.



We at probate sharks would like to urge both our State Senate and our State House to examine the use of OBRA accounts by guardians of elderly disabled wards in the Cook County Court system. Court-appointed guardians are placing the estates of the elderly disabled worth hundreds of thousands of dollars into OBRA accounts, thereby making the ward appear destitute, and eligible for Medicaid. Once the estate is placed into an OBRA account, that money can no longer, by law, be used for housing for the ward, and they can no longer use their own funds in their OBRA account to pay for their private pay nursing homes. Thus, the ward is moved into public aid housing, at the cost of the taxpayer, and to the burden of our Medicaid system.

OBRA accounts are quite a lucrative thing for the guardians and lawyers, however. You see, OBRA accounts may not be used for housing, but they may be used for "administrative fees". Administrative fees include guardians' fees and attorneys fees.

Thus, the guardians and attorneys are enriching themselves off the estates of the elderly disabled through the Probate Courts of Cook County. And the elderly disabled are being removed from their homes or private pay nursing homes, and placed into public aid facilities. The owners of public aid nursing homes are also benefitting financially from this scam. And the taxpayers are incurring the cost.

We urge our state law makers to look at this more closely. It is our belief at Probate Sharks that this is fraud, and the system is being scammed, to the benefit of greedy guardians and attorneys, under the watchful eyes of the judges as they approve petition after petition after petition for attorneys' fees and guardians' fees until the estate is depleted.

A review of public records has revealed that the Office of the Public Guardian places 60 - 65% of their wards' estates into OBRA accounts....not because the ward is destitute, but because the estate can then be made available exclusively for "administrative fees." The wards are then moved into public aid nursing homes, despite the fact that their estates are worth hundreds of thousands of dollars, and could support many years in private-pay nursing homes. The quality of life for the elderly disabled is drastically affected by these moves to public aid facilities, while the quality of life for the guardians and attorneys is greatly improved at the expense of the ward.

Something is not right with this picture. It is shameful, unethical, and appalling. And it is all being done under court order in the Cook County Probate courts.

Please visit our other articles on OBRA usage in the Cook County Probate Courts....they are listed in the index to the right.

We look forward to the day when justice occurs in the Cook County Probate Courts. We look forward to a day when OBRA accounts, which qualify the ward for Medicaid, are no longer an incentive for unethical guardians and attorneys to attempt to remove willing familiy members from their POA's and positions as guardians. We look forward to an end to this racketeering, and to the bringing forward of a RICO suit by prosecutors.

We believe that this statement from the news article above opens the door for an investigation:

The legislation makes an attempt to crack down on fraud by setting up administrative hearings that can collect and fine individuals who have been scamming the system, and even refer the cases to local prosecutors.

As always, we invite lawmakers, law enforcers, and the media to contact us. We have data to support our claims. It is time for an investigation so the elderly disabled are no longer abused and financially exploited through the Cook County Probate Courts. Please contact us.

Signed,

Your Probate Sharks Medicaid Reform Supporters