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1 | HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION
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2 | WHEREAS, In an effort to address unsustainable growth in | ||||||
3 | the Medicaid program and to improve the care provided to | ||||||
4 | Medicaid enrollees, a bipartisan group of legislators worked | ||||||
5 | with the Department of Healthcare and Family Services to craft | ||||||
6 | comprehensive Medicaid reforms in early 2011; and
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7 | WHEREAS, Governor Quinn referred to these reforms as a | ||||||
8 | "landmark achievement" when he signed them into law on January | ||||||
9 | 25, 2011 after they had passed the Senate by a vote of 58-0-1 | ||||||
10 | and the House of Representatives by a vote of 111-4-2; and
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11 | WHEREAS, Included in these landmark reforms were | ||||||
12 | provisions to require Medicaid applicants to submit one month | ||||||
13 | of income data and proof of Illinois residency when applying | ||||||
14 | for Medicaid coverage; and
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15 | WHEREAS, The Department of Healthcare and Family Services | ||||||
16 | has not implemented these key reforms due to communication from | ||||||
17 | the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services indicating that | ||||||
18 | the residency and income verification may violate Medicaid | ||||||
19 | Maintenance of Effort (MOE) provisions contained in the Patient | ||||||
20 | Protection and Affordable Care Act; and
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21 | WHEREAS, The Department of Healthcare and Family Services |
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1 | has not requested a waiver to formally ask for the | ||||||
2 | implementation of these reforms despite requests from members | ||||||
3 | of the General Assembly to request such a waiver; and
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4 | WHEREAS, One of the reasons provided by the Department of | ||||||
5 | Healthcare and Family Services for not submitting a waiver for | ||||||
6 | the income and residency requirements contained in the Medicaid | ||||||
7 | reforms is a lack of agency manpower to submit such waivers; | ||||||
8 | and
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9 | WHEREAS, In an effort to work with the Department of | ||||||
10 | Healthcare and Family Services to address staffing issues, | ||||||
11 | Senate Bill 1762 was passed in November of 2011 and signed into | ||||||
12 | law as Public Act 97-649 to provide flexibility outside of the | ||||||
13 | Personnel Code to allow the Department to hire employees with | ||||||
14 | experience in administration, information technology, and | ||||||
15 | healthcare financing to facilitate implementation of Medicaid | ||||||
16 | reforms; and
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17 | WHEREAS, Also included in the landmark Medicaid reforms was | ||||||
18 | a provision to place a 2-year moratorium on the expansion of | ||||||
19 | Medicaid eligibility, thus enacting a 2-year moratorium | ||||||
20 | through January 25, 2013; and
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21 | WHEREAS, Despite this moratorium, the Department of | ||||||
22 | Healthcare and Family Services officially submitted a waiver |
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1 | request to the federal government in January of 2012 to expand | ||||||
2 | Medicaid eligibility in Cook County to individuals currently | ||||||
3 | not eligible for Medicaid coverage; and
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4 | WHEREAS, The implementation of all of the landmark | ||||||
5 | bipartisan Medicaid reforms remains a key to addressing the | ||||||
6 | ever expanding backlog of unpaid Medicaid bills, which | ||||||
7 | according to the Department of Healthcare and Family Services | ||||||
8 | could reach $21 billion by the end of FY 2017; and
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9 | WHEREAS, numerous other reforms also remain to be | ||||||
10 | implemented, including coordination of care for high risks moms | ||||||
11 | and babies, creation of a Medicaid transparency portal, payment | ||||||
12 | recapture audits, use of durable medical cards, civil remedies | ||||||
13 | for fraud, copayment requirements for unauthorized use of | ||||||
14 | emergency rooms, enhanced third-party liability provisions, | ||||||
15 | and the creation of a specialty drug program for high cost | ||||||
16 | medications; therefore, be it
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17 | RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE | ||||||
18 | NINETY-SEVENTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, THE | ||||||
19 | SENATE CONCURRING HEREIN, that we recommend that the Department | ||||||
20 | of Healthcare and Family Services formally file a Medicaid | ||||||
21 | waiver to implement the income and residency requirements and | ||||||
22 | all other provisions of Public Act 96-1501 that may require a | ||||||
23 | waiver; and be it further
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1 | RESOLVED, That the Department of Healthcare and Family | ||||||
2 | Services should timely submit to the Centers for Medicare and | ||||||
3 | Medicaid Services any and all State Plan amendments necessary | ||||||
4 | to implement all reform provisions included in Public Act | ||||||
5 | 96-1501; and be it further
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6 | RESOLVED, That we urge the Department of Healthcare and | ||||||
7 | Family Services to fully implement all previously enacted | ||||||
8 | reforms to address the unsustainable growth in the Medicaid | ||||||
9 | program and to improve the quality of care provided to program | ||||||
10 | participants; and be it further | ||||||
11 | RESOLVED, That suitable copies of this resolution be | ||||||
12 | presented to the Governor, the Director of the Department of | ||||||
13 | Healthcare and Family Services, and to the members of the | ||||||
14 | Illinois Congressional delegation.
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