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Committee on Health & Environmental Protection
May 24, 2017 City Council Meeting
RESOLUTION
WHEREAS, The Cook County Health & Hospitals System, commonly referred to as CCHHS, one of the largest public health systems in the country, serves the health care needs of Chicago and Cook County by serving over 300,000 unique patients with their more than one million annual outpatient visits and 150,000 emergency department visits each year; and
WHEREAS, CCHHS's flagship John H. Stroger Jr. Hospital has cared for millions of individuals and contributed research to modern best practices adopted in hospitals throughout the country and the world; and
WHEREAS, CCHHS strives to promote community-based primary and preventative care centered on enhancing the patient experience; and
WHEREAS, Before adoption of the Affordable Care Act ("ACA"), nearly 20% of Cook County residents were uninsured; and
WHEREAS, Today, 95% of all Cook County residents are insured, and a majority are cared for by CCHHS; and
WHEREAS, The more than 300,000 yearly patients served by CCHHS deserve the comprehensive, compassionate, and cutting-edge care to which the ACA has been essential; and
WHEREAS, This comprehensive care exists largely through new sources of health system revenue once heavily dependent on local taxpayers, such as CountyCare—the third largest Medicaid managed care plan in Cook County, with over 140,000 members; and
WHEREAS, CountyCare has a provider network that includes nearly all hospitals, academic medical centers, and federally qualified health centers in Chicago and Cook County; and
WHEREAS, CountyCare reimburses both community non-CCHHS providers and CCHHS for services rendered to members at CCHHS facilities; and
WHEREAS, Such coverage allows Cook County patients to receive efficient and effective care when they need it, while CountyCare earns additional revenue, allowing local taxpayer support for CCHHS operations to have decreased by more than 75% since 2009; and
WHEREAS, If the ACA is repealed, it is estimated that Chicago would sustain a potential loss of 23,300 jobs, $892 million in spending for coverage of the Medicaid ACA population, and $450 million in spending for coverage of the Marketplace ACA population, in addition to the loss of necessary available care for over 483,000 Cook County residents; and
WHEREAS, The City Council of the City of Chicago recognizes CCHHS as a major healthcare center with incredible local and international reach, whose comprehensive care cannot afford to be jeopardized through the repeal of the ACA without a suitable coverage alternative; now, therefore,
BE IT RESOLVED, That we, the Members of the City Council of the City of Chicago, assembled this 24th day of May, 2017, do hereby
Call upon the United States Senate to reject the American Health Care Act passed by the United States House of Representatives on May 4, 2017, in light of its negative effects on quality patient care and local economic development; and
Call upon the City Council's Committee on Health and Environmental Protection to convene a hearing regarding the potential local impact of the American Health Care Act, and to solicit testimony from healthcare professionals, interest groups, and the general public regarding repercussions if the Affordable Care Act is repealed in favor of the American Health Care Act; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That suitable copies of this resolution be presented to the Illinois Delegation to the United States Congress as a sign of our dedication to and support of this important issue.
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5eorge A. Cardenas Alderman, 12th Ward