<--Separated at birth?
HEALTH Officials say it is needed to balance budget
Cook County Board President Todd Stroger wants county hospital patients to begin paying $3 for prescription drugs to help balance the county budget.
Cook County Board President Todd Stroger wants county hospital patients to begin paying $3 for prescription drugs to help balance the county budget.
While Stroger himself would not say how much he pays for prescriptions under the county health insurance plan, most of the county's highest-paid employees pay only $5 for theirs.
"He's sticking it to the people who can least afford it," said Ed Shurna of the Chicago Coalition for the Homeless.
"He's sticking it to the people who can least afford it," said Ed Shurna of the Chicago Coalition for the Homeless.
"To make the county's poorest people pay almost as much as someone making six figures is completely unfair."
The county's highest-paid employees, like many public employees, have a generous health-care plan that includes a $3 co-pay for doctor visits.
Stroger would not say what his policy is on the amount employees pay for insurance.
But county officials say charging a fee for prescriptions is something long overdue, as most other public hospitals in the country assess some fee while Cook County's $1 billion public health system bleeds money because of a lack of adequate revenues.
Hospital Chief Operating Officer Tom Glaser said it's unclear what the county will realize in new revenues by charging $3 per prescription -- with a maximum of $10 per visit -- and emphasized that if patients can prove they can't afford it, they won't be denied care.
http://www.suntimes.com/lifestyles/health/536554,CST-NWS-hosp31.article
Hospital Chief Operating Officer Tom Glaser said it's unclear what the county will realize in new revenues by charging $3 per prescription -- with a maximum of $10 per visit -- and emphasized that if patients can prove they can't afford it, they won't be denied care.
http://www.suntimes.com/lifestyles/health/536554,CST-NWS-hosp31.article
Good grief! I don't pay that kind of money for a doctor's visit and prescription co-pay.
3 comments:
The health care in Cook county is a mess, to say the least, compiled with years of not billing, not qualifying people who are eligible for Medicaid/Medicare, and then the State is behind on the payments...of course we still don't have a budget.....
Charge the highest paid $10 for generic, $20 for name brand, and they can get the generic at Wal-mart for $4.
Oh, and they can pay $20 to $50 for the co-pays at the doc.
The highest paid are all in six figures.
The people with the six figures such as Urkel, Diaperman G-Rod, and othrs should pay for their own insurance and perscription. They shouldn't be given perks. There is a deficit in Illnois for crying out loud.
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