FY13 ILLINOIS BUDGET DOMINATES SESSION

5/2/12 - This is lining up to be a year of very, very difficult decisions for legislators facing much-reported crises in pension and Medicaid funding and expenditures. Final decisions are still a few weeks away, but here is information that will help you see where things might be going. Not much positive news out there for those who rely on state-funded services.

Here is the power point from DHS outlining the Medicaid funding situation and the options the State has to decrease Medicaid expenditures by $2.7 billion in FY2013.

HFS Medicaid Reductions - FY13 Budget Presentation

Here is the Governor's Medicaid funding proposal.

Governor Proposed Medicaid Cuts - April 19 2012

Here are two proposed Department of Mental Health (DMH) budgets for GRF (General Revenue Funded) programs. One is the Governor's initial budget proposal. The second is an alternative proposal from DMH.

DHS DMH Community Services FY13 Budget Discussion 032912

Let us know if you can identify specific community impact likely if these cuts are implemented. ACMHAI is the voice of local behavioral health authorities who understand community systems of care. The impact of many of these cuts will be felt at the community level, and you may be able to see those effects coming. Help us inform decisionmakers about the impact of these proposed funding, reimbursement and service cuts.

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ACMHAI is gathering information and making connections. Last year Illinois Public Act 97-0439, an amendment to the Community Mental Health Act, was signed into law. The legislation requires counties and Cook County townships with no local mental health authorities to form mental health advisory committees comprised of seven community stakeholders by the end of December 2011. The mental health advisory committees are charged with identifying and assessing current mental health services, monitoring the expansion or contraction of those services and, if necessary, recommending additional needed services. These committees are NOT mental health authorities, having neither tax levy nor funding capacity. ACMHAI is now conducting a survey of counties and townships to determine which have appointed committees, are in the process of appointing committees, believe they are exempt from the requirement or were unaware of the requirement. Through these contacts, we have had requests for assistance and information, which we were pleased to provide.