U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin, D-Springfield, meets with Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle. Durbin, Preckwinkle and Eric Mikaitis, acting CEO of the Cook County Health and Hospital System, met Sept. 10 to talk about the county’s health priorities. (Photo provided by Durbin’s office)

U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin, D-Springfield, met with Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle and Eric Mikaitis, acting CEO of the Cook County Health and Hospital System, in his Washington office to discuss the county’s health priorities.

In their Sept. 10 discussion, Durbin and the Cook County leaders spoke about the need to prevent cuts to the Medicaid Disproportionate Share Hospital funding, scheduled for Dec. 31. Durbin and the county leaders noted that Chicago area hospitals rely on that funding to fulfill their safety-net mission and continue treating under-insured patients.

With a shared priority of making health care more accessible for under-served communities, Durbin, Preckwinkle, and Mikaitis discussed the positive impact of the federal Medicaid 1115 waiver, which Durbin supported, to grant the state permission for Medicaid to cover health care services for eligible incarcerated individuals 90 days prior to their release, in order to promote successful re-entry and continuity of care.

The senator and Preckwinkle also discussed the importance of the National Health Service Corps, which provides scholarships and loan repayment to doctors, dentists, nurses, and behavioral health providers who commit to serve in an urban or rural shortage area. The federal recruitment tool helps to address health care shortages; and Durbin is working to expand eligibility for the program to additional care settings that treat vulnerable patients.

“Health care is a fundamental right, and our government should be making it more accessible for all,” Durbin said. “I spoke with Cook County Board President Preckwinkle and Cook County Health and Hospital System Acting CEO Dr. Mikaitis about their important mission, and how we can work together to expand access to treatment across our community.”