2nd beef recall is linked to E. coli cases

            The State Public Health Director extends an alert after last week’s warning about food borne illness linked to ground beef consumption. A 2nd recall has now been made- still no Illinois cases of E. coli. from consumption of recalled beef in Illinois. After last week’s recall from a Minnesota company, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service has announced that a Michigan company has recalled 129,000 pounds of beef products due to possible contamination.
            The beef products were produced between March 1 and April 30, 2007, and were shipped to foodservice distribution centers and marketplace stores in Arkansas, Florida, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Michigan, Missouri, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Tennessee,                    Virginia, West Virginia, Wisconsin and Illinois. Because these products later became ground beef sold under many different retail brand names, consumers should check with their local retailer to determine whether they may have purchased any of the
products subject to recall. 
            The possible contamination of beef products in this recall was discovered by the Michigan Department of Community Health as part of an illness investigation. “We still have no cases in Illinois of anyone becoming sick with the same type of E.coli after eating these recalled ground beef products. But with the expanded recall we advise consumers to be extra careful,” said Dr. Eric E. Whitaker, State Health Director.
            People should only eat ground beef patties that have been cooked to a safe internal temperature of 160F.  Anyone who thinks they may have experienced symptoms of illness (diarrhea, often with bloody stools) after eating ground beef are urged to contact their health care provider

The Cons of State Funded Healthcare Benefits Lead to Changes
By: Nicole Jolicoeur/TW

            The Illinois state-funded healthcare programs initiated and proposed by Governor Rod Blagojevich have received high praise and attention in recent months, making claim to be an example for other states to follow by providing healthcare benefits to families and uninsured adults who without government assistance would go without any type of coverage. The state’s All Kids and FamilyCare programs offer health insurance to Illinois children and their parents on an income based sliding fee schedule and the proposed Illinois Covered program is estimated to extend health coverage to 1.4 million uninsured adults.
            Certainly the theory and goals behind the healthcare initiatives are important. The downsides have continued to surface as well. For patients, finding participating providers is a hassle. For providers, the lengthy process for having benefits paid and the drastic reduction in payment amounts is a discouraging frustration, causing many providers across the state to not accept this particular insurance.
            One Joliet mother (who requested to remain anonymous due to a current appeal she has with the state) explained her family’s challenges of participating in the program.
She notes that she was given a book which listed physicians accepting the state medical card but each one she contacted was not accepting any new All Kids or FamilyCare patients. Her eleven year old daughter was in dire need of a tonsillectomy but she struggled for over a year to find an ear, nose and throat specialist (ENT) who would accept her medical card. Finally, a relative’s doctor agreed to perform the $6,000 procedure for $250 that the mother paid out of pocket. The ENT claimed that the state would not have paid close to the normal amount anyway and due to the urgent need for the procedure he felt compelled to intervene.
            The mother, a pulmonology and stomach care patient, also found herself in a binding medical situation. Her pulmonologist, who left the country, belonged to a medical group. Once she began treating with the group physicians the state mailed her a card limiting her to one primary care physician (PCP), the Will County Health Department, which could refer her to a specialist. This is not out of the ordinary for common private HMO plans. However, she again struggled to find a specialist to be referred to. For her stomach care she confirmed with a specialist and the plan that services would be covered. Afterwards, she proceeded to receive treatment in June 2006 but the doctor was never paid and has now directed the charges to the patient and refused to treat her any more until the balance is paid. To manage the condition she has resorted to repeated emergency room visits. “This is such a backwards way to manage state money,” says the mother, “not stopping the crisis by forcing people to go the emergency room is not the right way to do this.”
            A local Crest Hill specialist office admits that they readily accept the state insurance plan but have to put a regular hold on the amount of public aid patient appointments new patient intake to maintain balance. The office claims that without this policy the practice would not survive financially if they had to rely primarily on state paid claims.
            The state has recently placed a heavier focus on these issues by launching Illinois Health Connect. The initiative addresses the shortage of participating doctors by providing a guaranteed medical home for every child in All Kids and every parent in FamilyCare. The recruitment goal of enrolling 3,000 new participating providers was surpassed with 4,000 enrolling. “We’ve seen tremendous success in recruiting and enrolling doctors and we are very pleased with the overall response from the physician community,” said Amy Rosenband, Illinois Department of Healthcare and Family Services Spokesperson.
            A new guaranteed payment cycle, the first of its kind in state history, has been rolled out to abandon the long wait for claim payment. This guarantees providers payments to be issued within 30 days from the time a clean bill is received for pediatric treatment and within 60 days for adult care- a change from the average 125 day cycle.
Doctors who enroll as Primary Care Physicians under Illinois’ Primary Care Case Management program will receive $2 extra per month per child they see in All Kids, which could add up to thousands of dollars each month in addition to regular payment. 
The state has also raised the rate allowances for treatment.
            Participants will still be required to choose a PCP or else one will be assigned. Specialist referrals will continue to be coordinated by the PCP. According to Rosenband the state is still working to make specialists more aware of program changes and improvements in the effort to recruit them. In addition if the Governor’s proposed Illinois Covered plan is approved this would relive the healthcare cost burden on small businesses allowing them to buy into an available pool versus providing the traditional employer health benefits.
           
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