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Heather Steans Springfield Update

Friday, February 26th, 2010

February 26, 2010

Dear Neighbor,

Below are updates on some of the most significant issues being addressed in Springfield this week. If there is a topic of interest to you that I have not covered, please let me know and I will get back to you on it.

Budget.
The Senate convened a joint appropriations committee hearing on the budget deficit. We received budget projections from the Governor’s Office of Management and Budget and the bi-partisan Commission on Government Forecasting and Accountability. Four different policy groups also provided an overview of the budget crisis and proposed solutions – The Center for Tax and Budget Accountability, the Civic Committee, the Civic Federation and the Illinois Policy Institute. All stressed that Illinois is on a precipice of financial disaster with a $13 billion projected budget deficit for the next fiscal year. Additionally, our unfunded liabilities are growing rapidly and threaten further downgrades of our bond ratings. The Civic Federation recently issued a plan to rehabilitate the State’s budget that calls for a comprehensive package of budget cuts, pension reforms and revenue enhancements. You can read this plan here.

The Center for tax and Budget Accountability also has proposals to address the budget deficit to ensure essential state services are funded and tax burden falls fairly on Illinois residents. Their research can be seen here.

The Governor’s Office for the first time in Illinois is providing the public with an interactive website on the budget. You can visit www.budget.illinois.gov

to find information on budget basics and answers to frequently asked questions. You can also provide recommendations on how to address the budget deficit.

Nursing Home Reform.

The Governor’s Nursing Home Safety Task Force recently issued their final report with recommendations to improve the safety and quality of care in nursing homes. Available here. They have 3 overarching recommendations:

Enhancing the assessment and referral process to assure that hospital patients are referred to the residential setting most appropriate to their needs;
Adopting and enforcing higher standards of care; and
Expanding home and community-based residential and service options.

I am chairing a new subcommittee of the Public Health Committee on Nursing Home Care which will consider legislation needed to implement recommended changes to improve the safety and quality of care in nursing homes. View the Tribune article regarding ongoing efforts to improve our nursing homes here.

Locally, work is ongoing to identify new placements for residents at the Somerset nursing home, an Institute for Mental Disease with all of its residents having a primary diagnosis of a mental illness that recently lost its federal funding after federal professionals surveyed the facility. There have been reviews by qualified professionals – many from local nonprofit organizations that serve individuals with mental illnesses – of all of the residents. Residents are being provided information on available options, both in other institutions as well as community alternatives.

Moving the Primary Election Date.

In advance of the Presidential primary election that had Barack Obama on the ballot, Illinois moved the primary date from the third Tuesday in March to the first Tuesday in February. The recent primary election had very low turnout, and the Senate passed a bill this week that will move the primary date back to the third Tuesday in March. The bill, which passed the Senate unanimously, will now move to the House for consideration. Read more here.

Legislative Scholarships.

State Representatives and Senators are able to award a limited number of scholarships for free tuition to any state university to their constituents. The Senate passed a bill this week to address abuses of the legislative scholarships. The bill would ban legislators from awarding scholarships to a relative of a campaign contributor, only allow legislators to award scholarships to individuals who have already been admitted (to prevent influencing the admissions process), and would enable any legislator to forfeit awarding the scholarships if he/she desires (currently the scholarships accumulate if unused). This bill passed the Senate unanimously. Read more about the bill here.

If there is a bill that you want passed or that concerns you, please let me know – I very much appreciate hearing from constituents who would be impacted by a piece of legislation to better understand the implications of it.

Best,

Heather Steans

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Posted in Budget, Legislation, Nursing Homes

State public health director, Conference of Women Legislators and American Heart Association raise awareness of heart disease

Thursday, February 25th, 2010

February 24, 2010

Go Red to Raise Awareness of the Number One Killer in Illinois

SPRINGFIELD – During American Heart Month, Dr. Damon T. Arnold, director of the Illinois Department of Public Health, today joined the American Heart Association and Conference of Women Legislators (COWL) in the Capitol Blue Room to help raise awareness about heart disease. Legislators in attendance were able to get a pulse on their health by testing out the My Life Check Web site.

Heart disease the leading cause of death for both men and women in the United States, and women account for almost 53 percent of all heart disease deaths according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). In fact, one in every four women dies of heart disease. The latest statistics show that in 2007, more than 13,000 women in Illinois died from heart disease. In 2008, more than 155,000 women were told they had a heart attack.

“To help prevent heart disease, we know we need to eat a heart healthy diet, exercise, quit smoking and control other health concerns such as diabetes. We need to encourage these healthy habits and try to reduce the chances of women in our lives developing heart disease,” said Dr. Arnold. “Together, we can help promote heart disease awareness and heart healthy living.”

“We want to reach out to women to teach them the warning signs of heart disease and the risk factors, to help them live longer, stronger, healthier lives,” American Heart Association volunteer and national television commentator Laura Schwartz said. “We have all been touched by heart disease in some way, and American Heart Month is the perfect time to educate ourselves and our family and friends on how to prevent this number one killer of women.”

During the event, legislators had the opportunity to test and demonstrate the My Life Check Web site (http://mylifecheck.heart.org), a tool designed by the American Heart Association and aimed at improving health by educating the public on how best to live. The Web site features a three to five minute assessment that will help users understand their current level of cardiovascular health, assess their individual health needs, help them to commit to steps to improve their health and quality of life, and move closer to personal health goals.

…

“More women die of cardiovascular disease than the next five causes of death combine, including all forms of cancer. I want to urge everyone, especially women, to learn about the signs, symptoms and treatments for heart disease, as well as the steps they can take to ensure good heart health,” said Rep. Sandra Pihos (R-Glen Ellyn) and co-chair of the Conference of Women Legislators.

“We must work together – legislators, doctors, health departments and more – to raise awareness of heart disease. I encourage everyone to join millions of people across the country working together to raise awareness of the number one killer in Illinois and in the U.S.,” said Sen. Heather Steans (D-Chicago) and co-chair of the Conference of Women Legislators.”

…

Read the Full Press Release Here

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Posted in Healthcare, Press Release

Chicago Tribune on Illinois Nursing Home Reform

Thursday, February 25th, 2010

Illinois steps up nursing home safety push

Surprise visits, safety checks come as Gov. Pat Quinn’s office works on reform bills

By Gary Marx and David Jackson, Tribune reporters

7:23 PM CST, February 24, 2010

llinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan said Wednesday that her office and local police are intensifying their efforts to protect nursing home residents by making unannounced visits and conducting broad safety checks at troubled facilities.

Criminal investigators and medical experts from the attorney general’s office have joined Chicago police to examine nursing home records to uncover unregistered felons and sex offenders living there, said Madigan’s deputy chief of staff Cara Smith. They are also interviewing residents and staff at facilities with histories of serious safety breaches, she said.

“The days of protection being provided in a reactive way and in the wake of tragedy needs to end,” Smith said. “The regulatory system has proven itself incapable of having any rapid response to violations. … The idea is to be out there in a very visible way.”

At the same time, Gov. Pat Quinn’s office is working to introduce a comprehensive package of nursing home safety-reform bills as early as next week.

The stepped-up efforts come a week after Quinn’s Nursing Home Safety Task Force completed a 52-page plan to overhaul the state’s troubled long-term care system and end Illinois’ current reliance on nursing homes to house younger psychiatric patients, including more than 3,000 with felony records.

On Monday, Madigan’s senior staff met with Michael Gelder, chairman of Quinn’s task force, to coordinate their combined initiatives.

Gelder said he and his task force staff worked through the weekend with the Department of Public Health and other state agencies to craft the legislation. He also met recently with representatives of the state’s largest nursing-home association as well as advocates for the mentally ill and the elderly, including the AARP.

State Sen. Heather Steans, a Democrat who has addressed safety issues at several large nursing homes in her Uptown-Edgewater district, on Tuesday was appointed chairwoman of a new five-member subcommittee on nursing home care.

More than a dozen preliminary nursing home safety bills have already been introduced by advocates and the industry.

Quinn’s task force was formed in response to a Tribune investigation documenting rapes, attacks and murders at nursing homes that serve some of the state’s poorest residents.

It has recommended improved screening of people admitted to nursing homes to identify those with violent criminal backgrounds or other red flags; higher standards for facilities that accept psychiatric patients, including improved training for staff and stiffer sanctions for safety breaches; and an ambitious plan to move thousands of mentally ill nursing home residents into smaller settings where they can get better treatment.

A representative of the nursing home industry expressed some reservations about the task force’s proposed increase in fees and penalties on homes.

“The entire focus of the (task force’s) report is definitely going in the right direction,” said Terry Sullivan, regulatory director of the Health Care Council of Illinois, the state’s largest nursing home trade association. But, Sullivan added, “I have yet to find any study that shows more penalties improve quality of care.”

In a two-page letter to state officials issued Wednesday, Madigan said her agency will continue to conduct warrant sweeps and urged various state agencies to join in her effort to create a proactive, high-profile law-enforcement and regulatory presence in Illinois’ 1,129 nursing facilities.

“We welcome the attorney general’s participation,” said Melaney Arnold, health department spokeswoman. “We are all going to have to work together.”

from:

www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/ct-met-nursing-home-safety-20100224,0,5700559.story

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Posted in Nursing Homes