(Feigenholtz, D-Chicago; Steans, D-Chicago) is supposed to eliminate Illinois’ $2.7 billion Medicaid funding gap. Included in Senate Bill 2840 is a repeal of the compromise of the Medicaid eligibility rules negotiated last fall between the Department of Healthcare and Family Services and the Joint Committee on Administrative Rules.

Some of these changes include the following: (1) A home transferred into a trust after the bill becomes law may not be considered homestead property. If the home was transferred into a trust before the bill becomes law, it prevents a person from being eligible for long-term care if the person’s equity interest in this homestead exceeds the minimum home equity as allowed under federal law. (2) People over the age of 65 can no longer participate in a federally created OBRA Pooled Trust unless the beneficiary is a ward of the county public guardian or the State guardian. (3) A healthy spouse still living at home will receive only the minimum resource allowance instead of the maximum allowance as previously approved by JCAR. (4) Abolishes spousal refusal entirely so that HFS is not limited to how much it can seek when pursing a support order against a community spouse.

Senate Bill 2840 will be heard in House Executive Committee this afternoon. The bill has an immediate effective date and will therefore take effect when the Governor signs it. House Amendment No. 3 becomes the bill, and these provisions may be found starting on page 75.

The Illinois Supreme Court Mortgage Foreclosure Committee is seeking comment on proposed recommendations concerning loss mitigation and mediation for mortgage foreclosure proceedings in Illinois.The proposal will be aired at a public hearing on Friday, June 8 in Chicago.

Anyone wishing to testify at the public hearing should advise the Committee in writing no later than Friday, May 25. Those wishing to offer written comments should submit them by Friday, May 25.

In April, the Foreclosure Committee held a public hearing to discuss a nine-point proposal submit-ted by its Practices and Procedures subcommittee.

The Mortgage Foreclosure Committee has also established a Loss Mitigation and Mediation subcommittee which has drafted 14 proposed recommended elements of mediation and mandatory pre-foreclosure loss mitigation for comment at the public hearing.

Six proposed mediation program elements under consideration are outreach, mandatory or opt-in for mediation programs, housing counseling, legal aid, establishing a pre-mediation process and trained mediators. Some of those elements to be discussed include having the court system reach out to homeowners in foreclosure to increase awareness of local mediation programs; providing housing counseling as part of the mediation process; and providing pro bono legal services to explain the foreclosure process, mortgagors' rights, possible defenses and the rights and responsibilities of the homeowner under the Illinois Mortgage Foreclosure Law.

The Illinois Supreme Court has announced the appointment of Thomas J. Carroll as a Circuit Judge of Cook County, At Large. This appointment is effective May 18, 2012, to Dec. 1, 2014. This vacancy was created by the death of the Hon. Donna Phelps Felton.

"Veterans Court" and "Military Legal Rights" aired on Illinois Law in May and June. Appearing on these programs were moderator Nancy McKenna and panelists Jason Vail, Frand Grenard, Mark Kammerer and the Hon. Lawrence Flood.

"Veterans Court"

"Military Legal Rights"

The Supreme Court of Illinois has announced the disbarment of two lawyers and the suspension of 14 others in the filing of lawyer disciplinary orders entered this morning. Sanctions were imposed because the lawyers engaged in professional misconduct by violating state ethics law. All information is provided by the Attorney Registration and Disciplinary Commission.

Asked and Answered

By John W. Olmstead, MBA, Ph.D, CMC

Q. Four years ago our 45 attorney firm developed and launched a strategic business plan. While we have implemented a few action items and achieved a few goals - overall our success has been dismal. What can we do to improve our success?

The General Assembly is grappling with a $2.7 billion Medicaid funding gap in the as of yet unpublished "SMART" bill. One of the pieces in it may be a reversal of the Medicaid eligibility rules in the compromise last fall between the Department of Healthcare and Family Services' and the Joint Committee on Administrative Rules. An excellent and comprehensive summary of that compromise may be found here in the January 2012 Illinois Bar Journal (by Diana Law and William Siebers). Some of these changes may include the following: (1) A home held in a trust, even an individual’s personal revocable living trust, shall no longer be considered homestead property. (2) People over the age of 65 can no longer participate in a federally created OBRA Pooled Trust. (3) A healthy spouse still living at home will receive only the minimum resource allowance instead of the maximum allowance as previously approved by JCAR. Whatever action the General Assembly may take on this issue will occur in the next ten days, and we'll try to keep you informed to the extent we can.

In Berge v. Kuno Mader and DMG America, Inc., the Illinois Appellate Court found that judicial estoppel bars a plaintiff from suing in state court if he or she fails to disclose the lawsuit as an asset in a bankruptcy petition, writes Brett J. Swanson in the latest Tort Trends.

ISBA President John G. Locallo (right) and ISBA Board member Gina Arquilla DeBoni (second from right), both alumni of Chicago-Kent College of Law, participated in the hooding ceremony during the school's 2012 Commencement ceremony on Sunday, May 13, at the UIC Forum in Chicago. President Locallo hooded his nephew and DeBoni hooded her brother.  Keynote speakers included (from left) Laurel G. Bellows, president-elect of the American Bar Association, and Her Royal Highness Princess Bajrakitiyabha Mahidol of Thailand.