Senator Durbin Prevents Cuts to Medicaid Payments to Hospitals With Veto-Proof Majority

May 22, 2008 -- WASHINGTON, D.C. — U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) today announced that by a vote of 75-22, the US Senate passed the domestic funding portion of the emergency supplemental bill that included an amendment to extend the current one year moratorium on a Medicaid rule regarding public health care providers that would have cut up to $255 million a year in federal funding to Illinois’ Medicaid program, including $179 million to Cook County.

This is the second time Durbin was able to extend the moratorium. The extension of the moratorium is until April 1, 2009 and was passed with a veto proof majority.

“Today a veto-proof majority of the Senate passed legislation that will prevent a rule from going into affect in three days that could have cut up to $255 million in federal funding from Illinois’ Medicaid program, which included a potential $179 million cut to Cook County,” said Durbin.

Without the extension approved today, the current moratorium would have expired on May 25, disrupting access to care for some of Illinois’ most vulnerable people and threatening the financial stability of hospitals that are already struggling to care for the growing number of uninsured Americans. The Senate legislation placed a moratorium on a total of seven Medicaid regulations, which would cost Illinois about $488 million a year.

Source: Senator Dick Durbin