Getting sick?

I'm as liberal as the next guy (OK, I'm more liberal than most of the next guys) but when I see things like Blago's All Kids insurance plan, which was rushed through the legislature in something like three days and signed into law Tuesday, my stomach gets a little queasy.

Understand, I certainly agree that all kids should have health coverage. I don't even disagree that if necessary, the state should fund it.

But to rush through a bill like this, despite the good intentions, is a little bit iffy.

Blago says he knows where the money's gonna come from. He says (according to a News-Gazette story) that

The state would cover the difference between what parents pay to participate in All Kids and the actual cost of care. That is projected to cost the state about $45 million in the first year, according to the governor. He plans to pay for it by shifting the state's Medicaid patients to a managed-care system, a move Blagojevich estimated would save $56 million in the first year.

Really? How? How does covering more people save you money? Am I missing something here? I've been in managed care programs for a number of years. What you end up getting in the long run is less care for more money, more regulations, more red tape, more infernal referrals to medical black holes and in the end an endless stream of continually rising co-pays and increasingly increasing deductibles. And this will save us what, $56 million?

It makes me just as queasy to agree with state GOP leaders, but...

Many Republicans also questioned whether the governor's cost estimates were accurate, whether the state would be able to afford the program in the long run, whether there would be enough doctors and dentists willing to participate, and how it would impact the coverage that employers are currently offering.

This kind of thing even leads me to agree with my buddy Rick Winkel, whom I almost never agree with.

Most details of who would be eligible and exactly how the program would work were left out of the All Kids legislation, which was introduced and passed within three days during last month's veto session. The bill left those decisions to the discretion of the Illinois Department of Healthcare and Family Services, formerly the Department of Public Aid.
That made area Republicans like state Sen. Rick Winkel, R-Urbana, uncomfortable.
"This body is essentially being asked to delegate its legislative authority to an administrative agency," Winkel said before voting no on the bill. "I have a big concern about that."

I'm sorry. I agree all kids should have medical coverage. All kids MUST have medical coverage. And I think the only way to accomplish that is to have the state do it. I'm willing to go along with that.

I really, really, really hope this is the measure that will accomplish the goals that must be accomplished. I hope it works. I just can't see how it can. I hope I'm wrong.

And so it goes.