(Chicago, IL) Governor Pat Quinn today signed a bill into law that allows the state to tap significant federal dollars and speed payments to thousands of Illinois-based hospitals.

The new law will improve the financial health of the state's hospitals, which treat thousands of patients and are major employers.

House Bill 542 creates a special program that uses a federal match available to make $120 million in one-time federal assistance payments to hospitals. The law also helps the state use increased federal funding to pay Medicaid bills owed to other providers, such as pharmacists.

The bill is sponsored by Rep. Dan Reitz (D-Sparta) and Sen. Jeffrey Schoenberg (D-Evanston).

　

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