(CHICAGO) Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker met with Cook County officials yesterday to announce a combined $2.6 billion in erased medical debt, and of that total, well over half, $1.5 billion, was erased through a Cook County program for residents there. However, the Governor noted that patients in all 102 counties of Illinois benefitted with an average elimination of debt across the state at $1,200 per patient. A recent study by the National Bureau of Economic Research suggests that such relief has a negative affect on the repayment of other medical bills.
(CHICAGO) Chicago is one of five cities in the running to hold the 2028 Democratic National Convention. The DNC announced this past Monday that the Windy City is in the running with Atlanta, Boston, Denver, and Philadelphia, all of which recently advanced in the application process for the convention scheduled for August 7th to August 10th, 2028. Chicago had held the Democratic National Convention six times, most recently two years ago, in 2024.
(SPRINGFIELD) The Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation, Division of Professional Regulation, has its first license under a new pathway that will allow internationally-trained physicians to provide care in Illinois. The International Medical Graduate licensure pathway allows professionals to practice under the supervision of a licensed physician at an approved institution for a period of two years. The announcement comes a few days after state lawmakers questioned IDFPR leaders why physician assistants were leaving for neighboring states because the licensing process takes months longer to complete in Illinois.
(SPRINGFIELD) Illinois Department of Veterans Affairs Director Terry Prince has been elected President of the National Association of State Directors of Veterans Affairs. Prince is the first NASDVA President from Illinois since 1947, when Homer Bradney was the first ever President.