WOODSTOCK McHenry County Board members are rethinking a controversial vote that stripped grant funding that covered Affordable Care Act counselors, as local health service agencies thrashed the original decision Friday.

Acting board Chairman James Heisler, R-Crystal Lake, said he and several others will meet at noon Monday to discuss how to revisit the grant, and whether it can wait until Nov. 6 or whether a special meeting is needed.

Member Donna Kurtz, R-Crystal Lake, also said a re-vote likely will happen after talking to other board members. She said an Illinois Department of Public Health grant coordinator agreed to temporarily hold off on distributing a $584,791 state grant elsewhere to allow for a re-vote.

"A lot of County Board members are now recognizing that we need to reassess this whole situation," Kurtz said.

On Tuesday, the County Board voted 10-10 to turn down the $584,791 grant from the state health department that would have covered the counselors, who help enroll people through the state health care exchange. Kurtz voted for the grant funding while Heisler voted against it.

The proposal needed 16 votes to pass. Some members, who voted for the grant, said the 10 other members voted against it to protest Obamacare.

Numerous health service agencies warned Friday that their clients will turn to the emergency room for primary care without health care counselors assisting clients through the complicated Affordable Care Act application process.

In a newsletter released Friday, Suzanne Hoban, executive director of the Family Health Partnership Clinic, said the local health care group already laid-off its navigator, who the agency paid through the grant.

"We immediately had to lay off our trained navigator and will no longer be able to assist people through this complex process," Hoban said in the newsletter.

"Without assistance to get people private insurance or public aid, we expect the number of patients we serve to increase, and many more to use the emergency room as their primary care clinic, wasting precious local health resources," she added.

Original post:

McHenry County Board's rejection of health care grant could flood ERs, agencies say