Surrounded by states enacting bans or severe restrictions, Illinois is poised to become a place where out-of-state patients and practitioners seek refuge. Politicians and advocates are seeking ways to welcome what they say could be a record-setting demand for the controversial procedure.
Investigations
Posted inInvestigations
Pritzker’s Personal Fortune Intersects With State Contracts
The governor’s promises to divest his vast portfolio of state contractors have not extended to his so-called blind trust, which has the governor’s money in at least a dozen companies with billions in state business
Posted inGovernment Finance & Accountability
State Filing on Medicaid Delays Asks Court to Reconsider
Saying a federal appeals court mistakenly created a “watershed moment” that could cost taxpayers hundreds of millions of dollars, Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul sides with insurance titans that administer healthcare reimbursements
Posted inInvestigations
City Claims on Anti-Violence Program Are Overblown
Mayor Lightfoot’s choice to lead the city’s campaign against gun-crime has a history of hyperbole, both about her efforts to confront Chicago’s greatest crisis and her own career.
Posted inGovernment Finance & Accountability
Appeals Court Reinstates Lawsuit Against State Medicaid Administrators
Citing the BGA investigation ‘Milking Medicaid,’ a three-judge panel said Saint Anthony Hospital has a ‘viable’ case against a state that has refused to enforce its contracts with private insurers who manage the program.
Posted inGovernment Finance & Accountability
City Agencies Fail To Intervene Before Three Older Women Die in Uncooled Apartment Building
Tenants of the Rogers Park complex see the limitations of the city’s 311 complaint hotline as City Council adopts new rules requiring air conditioning units in senior buildings.
Posted inCriminal Justice & Public Safety
Hundreds More Black Chicagoans Are Pleading Guilty to Gun-Possession Charges. Here’s One Possible Reason Why.
As Chicago police have made more gun-possession arrests, prosecutors are using the secretive grand jury process and securing more convictions.
Posted inEquity & Economic Opportunity
Complaints Mount on Park District Cameras
A Better Government Association investigation into the unfair placement of Park District security cameras has sparked renewed criticism from park neighborhoods and city council members about the quality and ineffectiveness of the expensive program
Posted inGovernment Finance & Accountability
Former State Health Director Ezike Under Scrutiny by the State’s Top Ethics Investigator
Public health director Dr. Ngozi Ezike connected with ordinary people nearly every day during the first two years of the COVID-19 pandemic. Now she is CEO of a top state medical contractor. Did Dr. Ezike’s quick switch violate the state Ethics Act?
Posted inGovernment Finance & Accountability
Foster Children Held in Jails, Shelters — Workers Threatened, Attacked: A State Agency in Crisis
One juvenile court judge asked: “What does a judge do when the department basically abuses a child?” Besieged Illinois child welfare director Marc Smith speaks out in a rare and passionate defense of his tenure, saying “every effort is being made” to protect children and workers.