By Sarah Watson
Moline Dispatch and Rock Island Argus
ROCK ISLAND, Ill. 鈥� Illinois public health officials expressed concerns about gaps in the health care system, from rising costs of ambulances to cuts to Medicaid reimbursements to communicating information about diseases, in a roundtable with U.S. Rep. Eric Sorensen, D- D-Moline, on Tuesday.
Officials from the Andalusia, Hillsdale and Rapids City fire protection districts expressed concerns to Sorensen over modern challenges facing small fire departments 鈥� the rising costs of services without the funding mechanisms to pay for them plus, concerns over recruiting enough volunteers and costly regulations.
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Rick Mitton, a trustee for the Hillsdale Fire Protection District, told Sorensen his biggest concern is the fire district鈥檚 ability to continue to pay for ambulance services currently contracted through Genesis MercyOne. He said in the most recent contract, the cost has gone up.
Mitton says the public doesn鈥檛 understand what goes into providing ambulance services.
鈥淭hey dial 9-1-1, they expect and ambulance to show up,鈥� Mitton said. 鈥淎nd they expect it to show up now, not in 20 minutes. Not in a half-hour.鈥�
Eventually, Mitton said, the fire district may not be able to tax enough to afford to provide paramedic services.
鈥淪ometime down the road it may not happen because we can鈥檛 afford to have that ambulance. We can鈥檛 afford to buy another fire truck,鈥� Mitton said.
Stan Billhart, a trustee of the Andalusia Fire and Ambulance District, said that what they are able to tax at the maximum levy is only able to cover labor. Billhart said he believed requiring districts to foot the bill for offering emergency medical services is 鈥渙ne of the most exorbitant non-funded mandates in the state of Illinois .鈥�
Billhart said he believes the way trends are going, one individual rural fire district won鈥檛 be able to afford paramedic-level services. Billhart said he believed regional systems that share costs among multiple districts is the way to go.
New Boston shut down its ambulance service as of July 15, with Aledo taking those calls. Andalusia is having to fill in the gaps and go out on calls to Mercer County, too, Billhart said.
In 2023, Reynolds Fire District pulled out of a cost-sharing agreement with Andalusia and Buffalo Prairie-Illinois City to join with Coal Valley, stretching their finances.
Still, voters approved a referendum for a new fire station in Andalusia in the March 2024 elections.
Sorensen asked about the impact of reduced Medicaid coverage for so-called frequent fliers who use ambulance services frequently.
鈥淲hen you鈥檙e cutting a funding source that helps individuals obtain basic health care, you鈥檙e going to see worse outcomes,鈥� said Monica Hendrickson, public health administrator for Peoria County.
Hendrickson said for people with several chronic health conditions, it is sometimes because they had to make hard decisions between paying for housing, prescriptions or food.
鈥淚t鈥檚 not their choice that they want to be bouncing back for uncontrolled diabetes,鈥� Hendrickson said. "... When you鈥檙e seeing cuts come through, you鈥檙e really starting to talk about pushing a larger population potentially into this realm of worse and worse health outcomes.鈥�
Hendrickson said it鈥檚 difficult to communicate challenges with the health care system to the wider public because often people don鈥檛 pay attention until problems such as long wait times impact them directly.
Cheryl Lee , public health administrator for Whiteside County, said she is concerned about 鈥渨orsening conditions that we were addressing 30 years ago.鈥�
She said she鈥檚 also concerned about having enough health providers to take care of people in the next 10 years. She said community health providers are having to pay more money to attract providers to rural areas.
Lee said federal and state governments have asked public health departments and centers to do more while cutting money.
On the immigration front, Lee said no one should be afraid to go to the doctor or attend appointments to receive immunizations. That delay could harm the patients or contribute to disease spread if people don鈥檛 seek care.
Hendrickson said the biggest challenge is uncertainty.
Sorensen said a third of people living in Illinois鈥� 17th Congressional District, which he represents, rely on Medicaid.
Sorensen joined all Democrats in voting against what President Donald Trump has dubbed the 鈥渙ne big beautiful bill,鈥� which made cuts to and added work requirements for able-bodied recipients on Medicaid and made permanent tax cuts passed during the first Trump administration and removed taxes on tips.
Sorensen said he would bring the concerns from the roundtable back to Congress.
鈥淭he people have to know that there鈥檚 somebody there that is going to help them. That we are in a society that cares for one another, and those are the things that I鈥檓 going to take back with me because how can we start solving these problems,鈥� Sorensen said.
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