CHICAGO CUBS/WRIGLEY FIELD
Wrigley Field doesn’t match Fenway Park’s atmosphere
May 23, 2011
…Wrigley Field . Can the Cubs replicate that kind of atmosphere in Chicago? Would Cubs fans even go for listening…But he doesn’t believe Cubs fans would act in a similar…lean on. “I think in Chicago they definitely would be…
Quade has several options to fill Byrd’s spot in center field
May 23, 2011
Cubs center fielder Marlon Byrd said after…again “sometime this season.” But the Cubs probably will have to get by without him for…with 15 RBIs in only 54 at-bats. The Cubs have three other options in center. Tony…
Next nine games gives Cubs chance to show how good they are
Chicago Sun-Times – – 11 hours ago
BOSTON, MA – MAY 22: Starlin Castro #13 of the Chicago Cubs is congratulated by manager Mike Quade #8 after Castro scored in the seventh inning against the Boston Red Sox on May 22, …
METRA
One year after Pagano suicide, Metra tries to get back on track
May 23, 2011
…year after the downfall of longtime Metra boss Phil Pagano, top officials say…replacement crew has taken the controls at Metra, led by a transplanted Los Angeles…Pagano scandal fades, problems remain on Metra’s horizon: Clifford must administer his…
Chicago man charged in train threat
A Chicago man was arrested Sunday morning at Metra’s University Park station after he threatened to blow up a train, authorities said.
CHILDREN’S MEMORIAL
May 24, 2011
…Andrea M. Garces is Director of Safe Kids Illinois at Children’s Memorial Hospital. Safe Kids Illinois is a member of Safe Kids Worldwide…
DUPAGE COUNTY BOARD
County boards could monitor appointees’ spending
By Jeff Engelhardt – 05/23/11
Suburban county boards could have much more financial supervision over local government officials they appoint after the Illinois House approved the stricter oversight authority Monday.
Residents: Keep Lombard all in DuPage County Dist. 2
By Robert Sanchez – 05/23/11
Several residents on Monday night voiced displeasure about a proposed DuPage County Board map that would put a chunk of Lombard into another county board district
Mr. Healy goes to Washington
The DuPage River came up during a conversation Jim Healy had with President Barack Obama earlier this month.
A tale of two maps
Chicago Sun-Times – – 12 minutes ago
A handful of voters weighed in on proposed DuPage County electoral maps at a public hearing in Wheaton Monday night. Last week, two versions were approved in committee and Monday night’s meeting was a …
MEDICAID
Dentists reluctant to treat children on Medicaid
Chicago Tribune – 18 hours ago
Not all health insurance is created equal: Dentists are far less willing to treat children with public health insurance than they are for children with private health coverage, according to a new study. The findings, published online Monday…
CHICAGO CUBS/WRIGLEY FIELD
Wrigley Field doesn’t match Fenway Park’s atmosphere
While Red Sox always sell out, Cubs struggle on field, at gate
By Paul Sullivan, Tribune reporter
8:57 p.m. CDT, May 23, 2011
Despite losing two of three in Boston over the weekend, the general reaction of Cubs players to the atmosphere at Fenway Park could be summed up in the words of pitcher James Russell.
“Pretty sweet.”
From the scene on Yawkey Way to the party on top of the Green Monster in left field, the Cubs were able to see what life is like in an alternate universe a few thousand miles from Wrigley Field.
Can the Cubs replicate that kind of atmosphere in Chicago? Would Cubs fans even go for listening to hip-hop blaring over the public-address system before games or nightly marriage proposals shown on the Jumbotron?
Those are questions the Cubs’ top executives have to ask themselves as they plan the modernization of Wrigley Field.
But as often as Wrigley Field is compared to Fenway Park, the differences in game-day atmosphere are quite striking.
The Red Sox have had 657 consecutive sellouts at Fenway, and every ticket is like gold in Boston. The Cubs have had a record number of no-shows at Wrigley in 2011, as season-ticket holders and scalpers take a bath because of North Side malaise.
Perhaps if the Cubs finally had won a World Series, as the Red Sox did in 2004 and again in ‘07, their fans would be more forgiving of their recent stretch of mediocrity. Then again, Red Sox third baseman Kevin Youkilis said Boston fans still are unforgiving, no matter how successful the franchise has been.
“The fan base has changed from the ticket prices,” Youkilis said. “It’s harder for people to afford to come. But forgiving? You’re not going to find anyone forgiving in this town. There are some, but the ones that were hardcore then will still get on guys.”
Youkilis then asked a clubhouse equipment manager if Red Sox fans were ever forgiving.
“I think they gave them a month off in April of ‘05,” the clubbie replied. “I think then they were happy.”
Youkilis said Red Sox fans were on the players “like white on rice” when they started slowly this season. But he doesn’t believe Cubs fans would act in a similar vein if their team were to have a World Series title to lean on.
“I think in Chicago they definitely would be forgiving if they won one, because it’s a party there,” he said. “Midwesterners are a little different. I think Cubs fans, if they ever got into a World Series, they’d relax a lot more.
“They pay a lot of money to come to games here, more than most teams out there. They’ll never be forgiving here. If they booed Ted Williams, they’ll boo anyone.”
Cubs fans and Red Sox fans share the same passion for baseball, and the same kind of love for their ballparks. But the Cubs can only dream of the kind of recent success the Red Sox have enjoyed.
“Most people don’t let baseball games affect their lives,” Youkilis said. “The people here, when the Red Sox are not winning, oh, they can get a little crazy. People are into it. Hopefully, some day the Cubs can win it.”
But for now, “some day” seems like a long way away.
Quade has several options to fill Byrd’s spot in center field
Johnson likely to get first crack for Cubs, but Campana, Colvin, Jackson could factor in too
By Paul Sullivan, Tribune reporter
8:43 p.m. CDT, May 23, 2011
Cubs center fielder Marlon Byrd said after the game Sunday he hoped to play again “sometime this season.”
But the Cubs probably will have to get by without him for several weeks because Byrd suffered multiple facial fractures after getting hit by a pitch Saturday.
Manager Mike Quade appears content to go with Reed Johnson as his regular center fielder despite having kept Johnson on the bench for most of the season. Johnson had only seven starts — one in center — before Byrd’s injury. Johnson is hitting .370 with 15 RBIs in only 54 at-bats.
The Cubs have three other options in center.
Tony Campana is available, but Quade appears to prefer the speedy rookie as his late-inning weapon off the bench, available to pinch-run in close games. The Cubs also could bring back Tyler Colvin from Triple-A Iowa, hoping that everyday playing time in the majors would cure his swing.
A third, less likely, option is bringing up Double-A Tennessee outfielder Brett Jackson, the Cubs’ 2009 first-round draft pick. The left-handed batter is hitting .295 with 13 steals. But Jackson has been sidelined since May 11 after straining a ligament in his left pinkie during a slide, and the Cubs might not want to rush him anyway.
The Cubs will add a position player Tuesday, though it doesn’t need to be a center fielder because Johnson, Campana and Kosuke Fukudome can play the position.
Extra innings: With Monday’s off day, Quade has moved Doug Davis back in the rotation so Carlos Zambrano can pitch on regular rest Thursday against the Mets. Davis is slated to start Friday against the Pirates, and Randy Wells might be called up Saturday from Iowa if Matt Garza (elbow) is still unavailable. … Geovany Soto is due off the disabled list Thursday.
Next nine games gives Cubs chance to show how good they are
By GORDON WITTENMYER gwittenmyer@suntimes.com May 24, 2011 02:09AM
If there’s such a thing as a last stand in May for a big-league baseball team, then this might be it for the Cubs.
Nine home games against losing teams in the next nine days might be the Cubs’ last realistic chance to prove they’re as good as they keep saying they are.
Otherwise, considering the rough shape of their season and the tattered condition of their roster, the race could be on to see whether the Cubs or the Bulls are effectively eliminated first.
And the Cubs haven’t even played a game yet with the ivy at full green.
‘‘We’ve gotten through some tough times now, and you’d like to go home and have a good homestand and hang around for a little longer,’’ manager Mike Quade said of how important the next nine days are for the Cubs.
Hanging around. That’s as good as it’s been for a team that entered the season with few expectations outside its own clubhouse and has done nothing to raise them since. And it has hung around only because of the back-and-forth play of the teams at the top of the division.
Even with the underwhelming, banged-up New York Mets and National League Central also-rans in the Pittsburgh Pirates and Houston Astros coming in, the Cubs are clearly not through the hard times.
Not with their most recent All-Star and hottest May hitter, Marlon Byrd, lost indefinitely after that horrifying beaning Saturday in Boston. Not with top young pitcher Andrew Cashner out through at least the All-Star break after aggravating his shoulder injury.
And not with top starter Matt Garza (elbow) and .376-hitting Jeff Baker (groin) looking at least uncertain in the short term as the team faces potential disabled-list decisions with them today.
It’s a clear crossroads affecting everything from wins and losses to hemorrhaging attendance and subsequent payroll spending.
As it stands, the starting rotation, which ranks last in the majors in ERA, can’t afford any more adversity. But the loss of Byrd as a driving force could be nearly as big a blow as the pitching issues.
‘‘It’s tough because you watch a guy like that and he doesn’t even really have to say anything as a leader,’’ outfielder Reed Johnson said. ‘‘You just watch the way he plays and his commitment to the game, and guys feed off that. That’s tough when you’re missing a piece like that.’’
So how soon before the Cubs start reshuffling the look and direction — if not purpose — of this season? How long before it’s all about Starlin Castro, Darwin Barney and pushing a more aggressive youth movement?
‘‘I think it’s way too early to look at the season in those terms,’’ assistant general manager Randy Bush said in the aftermath of the Cubs hitting bottom in Cincinnati last week in a series marred by ugly plays.
Even before they regrouped to play errorless ball in a two-game sweep of the Florida Marlins, the first winning team they managed a series win against this year.
‘‘We’re thrilled with the way Darwin’s playing. We’re thrilled with the way Castro’s developed. This is exciting stuff,’’ Bush said. ‘‘But at the same time I think we all feel we’re going through a rut right now where we can change this around very quickly. We really can.
‘‘What we’re experiencing right now is a bunch of character, quality, veteran players trying too hard because they want to win. They’re trying to do too much right now, and you’re seeing some very poor decisions leading to some terrible plays by players who are way better than that.’’
Every bit of that may be true. But with the events and roster casualties of the weekend, those left standing might need to do even more now. Especially if they don’t take care of business in the next nine days.
After that comes 38 games in 38 days because of a couple of rainouts, starting with the toughest-looking trip of the season to St. Louis, Cincinnati and Philadelphia.
‘‘At some point you have to get yourselves back healthy and playing good baseball before you can make a run,’’ Quade said. ‘‘We haven’t done that yet, but we’re still in this thing and we’ve hung around for this long. Eventually, we’ve got to put together a nice stretch.’’
METRA
One year after Pagano suicide, Metra tries to get back on track
New leadership, reforms lifted ‘darkest hour,’ officials say
By Richard Wronski, Tribune reporter
6:56 p.m. CDT, May 23, 2011
One year after the downfall of longtime Metra boss Phil Pagano, top officials say the commuter rail agency has emerged from its “darkest hour” and is on track toward recovery and reform.
A replacement crew has taken the controls at Metra, led by a transplanted Los Angeles transit executive who came aboard in February promising change. Many of the key staffers who reported to Pagano have left the agency.
“This is a new day,” CEO Alex Clifford said. “The things that were associated with Pagano (are not) associated with me. …I’m working hard to put new processes and procedures in place and give the public assurances that we’ve turned the corner.”
But while the Pagano scandal fades, problems remain on Metra’s horizon: Clifford must administer his remedies to an organization in recovery, criticism has caused a leadership vacuum on the board of directors and the agency faces additional funding woes while trying to maintain — much less expand — service.
“The region is looking for Metra to be a more aggressive player in the development scene, creating new routes … like the (proposed) SouthEast Service,” said DePaul University transportation expert Joseph Schwieterman.
“I think Metra mirrors the CTA, (which came) out of a period of poor financial management a couple of years ago. The CTA turned things around. Now it’s Metra’s turn,” he said.
After arriving at Metra, Clifford outlined a series of reforms, focusing on organizational and personnel changes, fiscal responsibility and passenger safety and satisfaction. Last week, Metra announced that “quiet cars” would start rolling on all lines next month.
Clifford has also had to fill a string of vacancies after several longtime administrators left. The latest was Deputy Executive Director Bill Tupper, who retired after 30 years.
Some believe Clifford is off to a good start but has much remedial work ahead.
“Over the last year, we haven’t seen Metra have any serious problems with operations,” said Steve Schlickman, director of the Urban Transportation Center at the University of Illinois at Chicago and former head of the Regional Transportation Authority.
“It has maintained its rather stellar performance in the industry. That hasn’t been affected,” Schlickman said. “(But) we may not have seen the full impact from last year.”
For customers, however, the ride has not been completely smooth. Many still smart over the fiasco on the Union Pacific North line last summer when Metra attempted to launch a major bridge rebuilding project by funneling trains onto a single track. The public uproar over service disruptions sent Metra back to the drawing board.
Metra’s financial footing was thrown off-balance by the surge in diesel fuel prices, which could cost Metra an unexpected $19 million this year. Clifford suggested that a fare hike or service cuts might be an option.
The cash-strapped state’s lag in making payments of sales tax revenue bedevils Metra and the other transit agencies. Meanwhile, lack of a state capital program — the $31 billion plan approved by the General Assembly in 2009 is mired in a court challenge — means millions that could be invested in tracks and equipment are being spent on day-to-day operations.
Some legislators launched measures to oust Metra’s directors, blaming them for poor oversight over Pagano. Although a bill to fire Metra’s board has stalled in Springfield, pressure remains on directors to step down, as Chairwoman Carole Doris did last month.
On May 16, Kane County Chairwoman Karen McConnaughay called on her own appointee to Metra, Caryl Van Overmeiren, to resign. But Van Overmeiren told the Tribune she won’t budge until her term ends in 2012.
Van Overmeiren and the other directors insist they have acted to fix Metra’s woes. “We’ve worked very hard to get this organization turned around,” she said.
Meanwhile, Doris’ departure has created a void. By law, Metra directors must choose one of themselves as new chairman before the end of July. But the real decision will be made by the political leaders from the six-county Metra region who appoint the directors.
Metra’s board is traditionally suburban-dominated and Republican-led. The agency has had only two chairmen since its creation in the early 1980s: Jeffrey Ladd from McHenry County and Doris, from DuPage. This time, other counties may feel it’s their turn.
Pagano, 60, committed suicide May 7, 2010, after an investigation revealed he had taken $475,000 in unapproved vacation pay and forged memos to cover it up.
Since then, Metra has spent more than $2 million on lawyers, consultants and accountants to find out what went wrong and recommend fixes.
In her first public comments since leaving the board April 30, Doris told the Tribune that the threats from Springfield were a “distraction to the operation of Metra as a premier commuter railroad.”
Doris said Pagano gave no indication he was desperate enough for cash to commit theft and forgery. But Pagano left his widow, Barbara, more than $1 million in debt, according to the bankruptcy petition she filed last year.
With the help of a $500,000 payout from her husband’s life insurance, Barbara Pagano settled with her creditors. But the resolution of her bankruptcy case provided no answer to the mystery of what Phil Pagano did with his money.
“I’m proud of what Metra did in a year,” Doris said. “I’m proud of how open we were about the problems we had to solve and the time the entire board put in to solve those problems. We weren’t given any credit for that.”
Chicago man charged in train threat
May 24, 2011 02:03AM
A Chicago man was arrested Sunday morning at Metra’s University Park station after he threatened to blow up a train, authorities said.
Randy A. Formentini, 58, “began making some alarming comments and threats” at the Electric Line station about 7:30 a.m., attracting the attention of an engineer who notified police, according to Metra police.
After questioning Formentini and consulting with the Will County state’s attorney’s office, police arrested Formentini, of 880 S. Wells St., who was charged with disorderly conduct.
Herald-News of Joliet
CHILDREN’S MEMORIAL
Children’s summertime safety
12:00 p.m. CDT, May 24, 2011
Join us at noon CT (1 p.m. ET/10 a.m. PT) on Tuesday, May 24, for an hour-long chat about how to keep kids healthy during the upcoming summer, with Chicago Tribune health reporter Deborah L. Shelton, and panelists Dr. Ken Polin and Andrea Garces.
For kids, summer is the time for splashing in the pool, running through open fields and enjoying warm breezes while gazing out an open window. But if safety is not kept in mind, those pleasurable activities—and many others—can lead to injury, illness or even death.
Dr. Ken Polin has been with one of the largest pediatric practices in the area, Town and Country Pediatrics, for 23 years. He and his colleagues treat more than 30,000 children a year. He is board-certified in emergency medicine and is an assistant professor of clinical pediatrics at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine.
Andrea M. Garces is Director of Safe Kids Illinois at Children’s Memorial Hospital. Safe Kids Illinois is a member of Safe Kids Worldwide, a global network of organizations with a mission of preventing unintentional childhood injury, a leading cause of death and disability for children ages 14 and under. Garces educates communities on injury prevention initiatives including child passenger safety, home safety, summer safety, fire safety, poison prevention, and bike/pedestrian safety.
DUPAGE COUNTY BOARD
County boards could monitor appointees’ spending
By Jeff Engelhardt
SPRINGFIELD — Suburban county boards could have much more financial supervision over their appointees to local agencies if Gov. Pat Quinn signs a measure that passed the Illinois House on Monday.
The legislation is in part a response to two DuPage County agencies that misspent millions of dollars. An audit earlier this year revealed the DuPage Housing Authority failed to account for more than $10 million, while the DuPage Water Commission accidentally spent $69 million in reserves through poor accounting practices in 2010.
Rep. Michael Connelly, a Lisle Republican who sponsored the measure in the House, said county board chairs should have authority to look over the financial practices of those they appoint and this would go a long way to prevent wasteful spending.
“It’s just one of these quirks in local government where it takes an unfortunate situation to bring this to light,” Connelly said. “To the extent this provides more transparency, the taxpayers are big winners with this.”
It was DuPage County Chairman Dan Cronin who urged legislators to grant oversight authority after the controversies.
Cronin and the county board are responsible for appointing nearly 240 people to about four dozen different boards and commissions.
The legislation passed the Senate and House with no opposition and now goes to Gov. Pat Quinn’s desk for his review.
Residents: Keep Lombard all in DuPage County Dist. 2
A proposed DuPage County Board map that would put a potential candidate into another district also could leave Lombard without proper representation at the county level, some residents say.
On Monday night, several residents publicly asked county board members to abandon a plan to draw Lombard Trustee Laura Fitzpatrick and thousands of her neighbors into District 4, which predominately encompasses Glen Ellyn, Glendale Heights and Wheaton. They want the board to adopt a second map that would keep the chunk of Lombard in District 2.
“By splitting Lombard between the two board districts, the interests of the people of Lombard may not be served,” said Michael Ledonne, a 15-year resident of Lombard. “I humbly ask this board to revisit the boundary lines as proposed … and consider the effects on the people of both Lombard and York Township.”
Ledonne was among a group of people who spoke during the countywide public hearing on redistricting. DuPage is nearing the end of its once-a-decade process to remap boundaries for the county board’s six districts.
Monday’s hearing came less than a week after board member Pat O’Shea called the possible removal of Fitzpatrick from District 2 a blatant case of gerrymandering. O’Shea, chairman of the redistricting committee, is pushing for the alternative map that keeps a boundary line along Main Street in Lombard.
“I want to keep as much of Lombard as possible,” he said.
O’Shea opposes a map that he claims board member Brien Sheahan proposed in order to have Fitzpatrick drawn out of District 2. “He’s definitely afraid of Laura, and he’s trying to get rid of her,” O’Shea said.
Sheahan insists the proposed map’s boundaries between District 2 and District 4 have nothing to do with Fitzpatrick, whom he defeated by 186 votes during the 2008 Republican primary. Sheahan says the lines needed to be changed to prevent District 4 from having to expand south into Lisle Township.
Still, the chairman of the York Township Democratic Party said Sheahan’s proposed map would be unfair for Lombard residents.
“Having that knuckle or finger or whatever it’s called going right into Lombard, the people in that little island won’t really be represented as well as they would be in District 2,” Carol B. Davis of Villa Park said.
Davis said the final map shouldn’t benefit politicians. Other speakers said the board shouldn’t be trying to “carve out uncompetitive districts.”
Kevin Fitzpatrick, Laura’s husband, said Sheahan’s proposed map would disenfranchise thousands of Lombard residents. “Lombard is the fourth biggest community in DuPage County,” he said. “We believe that we deserve our full measure of representation in the county.”
More residents can voice their opinions during a District 2 public hearing set for 7:30 p.m. Thursday at York Township Hall, 1502 S. Meyers Road in Lombard. The county board must vote on a new map before a July 1 deadline. DuPage is divided into six districts, with three board members per district.
Mr. Healy goes to Washington
By Susan Frick Carlman scarlman@stmedianetwork.com May 24, 2011 07:28AM
The DuPage River came up during a conversation Jim Healy had with President Barack Obama earlier this month.
As an active member of the National Association of Counties, the DuPage County Board member from Naperville made a trip to the nation’s capital May 2 and 3, joining a group that met with the chief executive, Vice President Joe Biden and several members of the president’s cabinet.
“Opportunities to meet with the president of the United States don’t happen every day, so I knew I needed to take advantage of the situation,” Healy said in a press release issued Monday by the county. “I knew the president would be interested in knowing the restoration funding for the DuPage River had been cut, because he and Sen. Durbin helped secure those funds several years ago.”
As he shook hands with Obama, Healy noted that $10 million in federal funds is still needed to complete removal of radioactive thorium from the West Branch of the DuPage north of Naperville. The funding, cut from the compromise budget passed by Congress last month, would have augmented the $500 million already spent addressing the contamination, which traces back to U.S. military activities during the 1940s.
“The ability to have those few minutes with the president was a great opportunity,” Healy said in the release. “I think it will help the county, and our congressional delegation’s efforts, to get the funding reinstated so we can finish this important project.”
Healy and the other NACo officials found a distinct connection with the vice president.
“Biden was very comfortable talking about county government because he is a former county commissioner. The vice president has not forgotten his roots in county government; he was very sympathetic to county issues and our ideas,” he said.
The county officials also met with Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood, HUD Secretary Shaun Donovan, Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano and EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson, among others.
“The meetings were very productive, and I think the cabinet members took away several ideas that will become policy and help DuPage County and our cities,” Healy said
A tale of two maps
Last Modified: May 24, 2011 09:14AM
A handful of voters weighed in on proposed DuPage County electoral maps at a public hearing in Wheaton Monday night.
Last week, two versions were approved in committee and Monday night’s meeting was a chance for residents throughout the county to offer their input before final action is taken by the County Board in June.
The meeting drew nearly two dozen visitors, a little more than one-fourth of them offering comments. Most urged transparency and representation of the electorate during the mandated redistricting process.
Among those not speaking, but offering a similar viewpoint, was Peggy Healy of Woodridge, who said she was representing the League of Woman Voters.
“I’ve been pursuing this thing for some time and the League’s position is that there be transparency and that the public has to be involved,” Healy said. “We’ve been encouraging officials that there be these sort of public forums.”
County Board member Brian Krajewski of District 3, a member of the redistricting committee, said the two approved maps show the same boundaries for districts 1, 3, 5 and 6.
“I became a member of this committee this past fall, and until we got the population figures from the census in February, all we did was work with a consultant,” Krajewski said. “Some districts like Naperville lost something like 12,000 people, while others gained a couple thousand, but the only boundaries affected (in the two map variations) are districts 2 and 4.”
Redistricting committee chairman Patrick O’Shea noted before the meeting that the controversy over the two maps concerns moving as many as 5,000 people in Lombard who he believes are becoming pawns in a political process.
“The two maps are strikingly different, as one divides portions of Lombard evenly while the other had a ‘knuckle’ or a ‘finger’ in it which divides the map in an unbalanced way,” O’Shea said. “Myself and other people have heard board member Brien Sheahan say he’d like to move his former opponent, (village trustee) Laura Fitzpatrick, into District 4 so she can’t run against him next time.”
Fitzpatrick’s husband Kevin spoke during the public forum, claiming that the so-called May 17th map “was willfully drawn.”
“The purpose of the map was to disenfranchise 5,000 voters who would lose representation,” he said.
Others agreed the May 17th map would adversely impact Lombard and York Township.
“We need the map to represent the people, not politicians, and feel there will be a better turnout with the second map that doesn’t divide Lombard up as it does,” said Susan Lubonovich, chairman of the Winfield Township Democratic Organization.
In comments after the meeting, Sheahan defended the May 17 configuration.
“The map was approved by a consensus of the County Board and it was a product of working with several districts,” he said. “Keep in mind that redistricting is sort of like holding a water balloon — when you squeeze on one end, it has to go somewhere else, and each move you make affects another district somewhere else. Lombard still has equal representation and as I said, it’s a fair map.”
MEDICAID
Dentists reluctant to treat children on Medicaid, study finds
By Amina Khan, Los Angeles Times / For the Booster Shots blog
2:28 p.m. CDT, May 23, 2011
Not all health insurance is created equal: Dentists are far less willing to treat children with public health insurance than they are for children with private health coverage, according to a new study.
The findings, published online Monday in the journal Pediatrics, found that children on Medicaid were 38 times more likely to be denied any appointment by dentists who were not enrolled in Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program — and were still 18 times more likely to be rejected by even those dentists who did accept Medicaid insurance.
Researchers led by Joanna Bisgaier of the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia trained six women to pretend to be the mother of a 10-year-old boy who had fallen off his bike and chipped his front tooth. They called up 85 dental offices in Cook County in Illinois, about half of whom participated in Medicaid and accepted Medicaid insurance. They called each one twice (for a total of 170 calls), and each time they told the same story — with one key difference. In one call, they said they had Blue Cross insurance. In the other, they said they were on Medicaid.
Of all 170 calls, only 36.5% of the Medicaid-insured mothers managed to get any kind of appointment. Compare that with the Blue Cross-covered mothers, who got an appointment 95.4% of the time.
Why the prejudice against the publicly insured? The study authors cite a lot of potential reasons: “low fees, less patient compliance, negative attitudes toward beneficiaries, and administrative requirements being too burdensome. There also is literature on dentists’ unwillingness to treat certain populations, including young children, patients with developmental disabilities, and patients living with HIV/AIDS,” they write. So this safety net for those who can’t afford private insurance may not be as safe as once thought.