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1 | HOUSE RESOLUTION
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2 | WHEREAS, The Department of Healthcare and Family Services | ||||||
3 | (HFS), as the Single State Medicaid Agency required by federal | ||||||
4 | law, currently oversees the Illinois Medicaid program; and
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5 | WHEREAS, Enrollment in the Illinois Medicaid program has | ||||||
6 | increased 60% during the past 5 years; and
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7 | WHEREAS, Illinois' Medicaid liability, growing far faster | ||||||
8 | than the rest of the Illinois budget, has nearly doubled in the | ||||||
9 | past 10 years; and
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10 | WHEREAS, Given the current fiscal climate, it is absolutely | ||||||
11 | critical that scarce State dollars be invested as wisely as | ||||||
12 | possible so as to produce optimal health outcomes for Illinois | ||||||
13 | citizens; and
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14 | WHEREAS, The State Auditor General has cited numerous | ||||||
15 | irregularities with the State's enrollment process, including | ||||||
16 | a significant number of chronically late redeterminations; and
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17 | WHEREAS, The Legislative Medicaid Advisory Committee, | ||||||
18 | through consensus, concluded the need for a vendor to assist | ||||||
19 | HFS with ensuring accurate Medicaid eligibility; and |
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1 | WHEREAS, The Legislative Medicaid Advisory Committee | ||||||
2 | estimated annual cost savings of $350 million associated with | ||||||
3 | establishing accurate eligibility measures and standards; and | ||||||
4 | WHEREAS, The Save Medicaid Access and Resources Together | ||||||
5 | (SMART) Act, Public Act 97-689, requires the Chief Procurement | ||||||
6 | Officer for General Services working in conjunction with HFS to | ||||||
7 | procure an eligibility verification vendor no later than 60 | ||||||
8 | days following the effective date of the Act, and further, upon | ||||||
9 | selection of said vendor, to enter into a contract within 30 | ||||||
10 | days; and | ||||||
11 | WHEREAS, Any delay in fully implementing the eligibility | ||||||
12 | redeterminations will serve to limit the cost savings | ||||||
13 | associated with this crucial reform; and | ||||||
14 | WHEREAS, The current implementation plan advanced by HFS | ||||||
15 | proposes a full implementation date of January 1, 2013 for | ||||||
16 | eligibility redeterminations; and
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17 | WHEREAS, The implementation of all the reforms contained in | ||||||
18 | the SMART Act is essential for the cost savings associated with | ||||||
19 | the SMART Act to be realized; therefore, be it | ||||||
20 | RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE | ||||||
21 | NINETY-SEVENTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that |
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1 | we urge the Department of Healthcare and Family Services to | ||||||
2 | ensure that the eligibility redeterminations process required | ||||||
3 | by the SMART Act be fully operational no later than October 1, | ||||||
4 | 2012; and be it further | ||||||
5 | RESOLVED, That we request the Department of Healthcare and | ||||||
6 | Family Services to provide a monthly briefing to the members of | ||||||
7 | the Legislative Medicaid Advisory Committee regarding the | ||||||
8 | implementation status of all the SMART Act reforms and for | ||||||
9 | information provided to the Committee to also be posted online | ||||||
10 | by the Department of Healthcare and Family Services in a manner | ||||||
11 | accessible to the general public; and be it further
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12 | RESOLVED, That suitable copies of this resolution be | ||||||
13 | presented to the Governor and the Director of the Department of | ||||||
14 | Healthcare and Family Services.
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