Due to Blue Cross Blue Shield’s unfair new “downcoding” scheme the Sun-Times’ Elvia Malagón recently wrote about, more and more physicians are considering dropping Blue Cross Blue Shield plans or not accepting insurance all together. This could interrupt the relationship thousands of patients in Illinois have with their current doctors or lead them to lose their access to healthcare entirely.
Our concerns are urgent and real. A growing number of psychiatrists, especially those with small practices lacking the resources to constantly fight the reimbursement bureaucracy, have already stopped accepting insurance entirely and moved to the private pay model. Blue Cross Blue Shield’s new push to shortchange providers will force many more to follow suit.
Blue Cross Blue Shield’s position in the face of this potential crisis of its own making has been irresponsible and disappointing. When we wrote and requested a meeting with the president of Blue Cross Blue Shield of Illinois, all we got back was a generic non-response response “explaining” policy.
We urge Blue Cross Blue Shield patients to talk to their doctors and psychotherapists about downcoding. Contact your elected officials if you feel your access to healthcare has been diminished because of this situation. And learn how to file a complaint on the Illinois Department of Insurance‘s website.
If Blue Cross Blue Shield refuses to act fairly, legally and responsibly, it’s time for state and federal regulators to step in and hold them to account.
Dr. Steven Weinstein, president, Illinois Psychiatric Society
Mail-in meddling won’t deter Illinois
Recent news about President Donald Trump’s acrimonious battle against mail-in voting has understandably left some voters with questions and concerns about whether the vote by mail rules have changed in Illinois.
As Cook County clerk and the county’s chief election authority, I want to assure voters: Nothing has changed. Eligible Illinois voters can still choose to vote by mail, and they can have confidence their ballots will be handled securely.
Voting by mail is not a shortcut around the safeguards that protect our elections. It is a secure, established voting option governed by state law and subject to multiple checks throughout the process.
When a voter requests a mail ballot, that ballot is sent to the voter’s registered address. Once it is returned, election officials verify the required information before it can be counted. Ballots are securely transported, tracked and processed by trained election personnel. These procedures are designed to protect the integrity of every ballot while ensuring that every eligible voter can participate.
This election, the clerk’s office will further strengthen the security of mail voting by deploying smart ballot drop boxes at all 56 of our early voting locations in suburban Cook County. Voters who do not wish to return their ballots through the U.S. Postal Service can drop their mail ballot at any one of these secure locations.
The boxes have built-in surveillance cameras, tamper-resistant construction and enhanced ballot tracking technology to provide voters with greater visibility into what happens after they deposit their ballot.
Most importantly, voters should not let the national debate over mail voting discourage them from exercising their rights. If you are eligible to vote in Illinois, you have the right to choose the voting method that works best for you, including voting by mail. Go to www.cookcountyclerk.com/vote to review your voting options.
Our democracy depends not only on secure elections but on voters having confidence in those elections. We will continue doing everything in our power to earn that confidence, one secure ballot at a time.
Monica Gordon, Cook County clerk
Eliminating microplastics
A recent study by Environment Illinois found that 100% of the state’s waterways — rivers, lakes, and streams — contained microplastics.
Microplastics are such small pieces of plastic the tested locations look spotless to the naked eye. All the microplastic found in the Environment Illinois study contained tiny thread-like fibers. More than three-quarters of the microplastics found contained fragments and over half contained film.
These findings warrant urgent policy response. The non-biodegradable nature of plastic means microplastics never truly disappear; rather, they break down into progressively smaller pieces and accumulate within our environment. Four years ago, researchers found plastic in the digestive tracts of 85% of fish sampled from Lake Michigan tributaries — specifically the Milwaukee, St. Joseph and Muskegon rivers.
That threat isn’t limited to wildlife. Studies show microplastics have been detected in people’s lungs, liver, heart, brain, testicles and placenta.
In spite of the daunting problem, solutions exist. Illinois lawmakers should pass a statewide ban on unnecessary single-use plastics, close the loopholes that let plastic pellets spill into our waterways and require microfiber-catching filters on new washing machines. Producer-responsibility laws should also shift the cost of plastic waste onto companies that produce it — not on taxpayers.
Illinoisans deserve a clean environment. Policymakers must act now.
Renee Ma, senior, New Trier High School, Wilmette
Trump can learn from Dolly
When I reflect on Dolly Parton, I think of more than her triumphs in music, television and movies. I also think of the hundreds of million dollars in charitable donations she gave to assist with COVID-19 relief, natural disasters victims, hospitals, literacy programs and other humanitarian causes.
When President Donald Trump ordered all American flag to be flown in half-staff following Parton’s death last week, I thought if he really wanted to honor her, he’d follow in her footsteps and donate some of his billions to charities he doesn’t control.
Paul L. Newman, Merion Station, Pennsylvania
Making lakes great again
If Donald Trump actually wants to make the Great Lakes greater, he could start by releasing funds for preventing an invasive carp infestation.
John Powers, Rolling Meadows