HB3791 97TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

LRB097 12019 RCE 55706 b

97TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2011 and 2012
HB3791

Introduced 6/21/2011, by Rep. Mary E. Flowers

SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:

25 ILCS 155/5.5 new

Amends the Commission on Government Forecasting and Accountability Act. Creates the Illinois Medical Care Advisory Committee within the Commission on Government Forecasting and Accountability. Provides for members to be appointed by the Joint Committee on Legislative Support Services. The Committee shall review State medical care programs and services provided, arranged, or procured by State agencies, including without limitation the following: the Department of Healthcare and Family Services, the Department of Human Services, the Department of Public Health, the Department on Aging, the Department of Children and Family Services, the Department of Corrections, the Department of Central Management Services, the State Board of Education, the Illinois Comprehensive Health Insurance Plan, and the University of Illinois. Provides for consultation with committees of the General Assembly, reporting, and making recommendations. Contains other provisions. Effective immediately.

FISCAL NOTE ACT MAY APPLY

A BILL FOR

AN ACT concerning State Government.

Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois, represented in the General Assembly:

Section 5. The Commission on Government Forecasting and Accountability Act is amended by adding Section 5.5 as follows:

(25 ILCS 155/5.5 new)

Sec. 5.5. Illinois Medical Care Advisory Committee.

(a) The Illinois Medical Care Advisory Committee is created within the Commission on Government Forecasting and Accountability.

(b) The Committee shall review State medical care programs and services provided, arranged, or procured by State agencies, including without limitation the following: the Department of Healthcare and Family Services, the Department of Human Services, the Department of Public Health, the Department on Aging, the Department of Children and Family Services, the Department of Corrections, the Department of Central Management Services, the State Board of Education, the Illinois Comprehensive Health Insurance Plan, and the University of Illinois.

(c) The Committee shall review policies, procedures, and operations of the programs and services related to the provision, arrangement, or procurement of medical care by the State. It shall make recommendations to the General Assembly concerning those policies, procedures, and operations. By not later than January 1 of each year (beginning with 2012), the Committee shall submit a report to the General Assembly containing the results of its reviews and recommendations concerning those policies, procedures, and operations. By not later than March 1 of each year (beginning with 2012), the Committee shall submit a report to the General Assembly containing an examination of issues affecting those programs and services, including the implications of changes in health care delivery in Illinois and in the United States and changes in the market for health care services.

(d) The Committee shall consult periodically with the chairpersons and members of the appropriate committees of the General Assembly regarding the Committee's agenda and progress towards achieving that agenda. At the request of a chairperson or member of an appropriate committee of the General Assembly, or on its own initiative if the Committee deems it appropriate, the Committee may conduct additional reviews and may submit additional reports to the appropriate committees of the General Assembly, from time to time, on topics relating to programs and services.

(e) The Committee may secure directly from any agency of the State of Illinois information necessary to enable the Committee to carry out its duties. Upon request of the Chairperson, the head of that agency shall furnish that information to the Committee on an agreed schedule.

(f) The Committee shall advise State agencies on priorities for health research, particularly as those priorities pertain to necessary changes and issues regarding policies, procedures, and operations of the medical care provided, arranged, or procured under State programs and services. The Committee shall have priority access to all raw data and research conducted or funded by the State of Illinois, including data and research produced by the affected State agencies. The Committee shall use existing information, both published and unpublished, if possible, collected and assessed either by itself or the Commission or under other arrangements made in accordance with this Section. State agencies shall establish a direct electronic link for raw data, including claims data, to be accessed by the Committee for the purposes of evaluating and determining recommendations, in accordance with applicable privacy laws and data-use agreements.

(g) The Committee may request the Commission to carry out or award grants or contracts for original research and experimentation if existing information is inadequate, and the Committee may adopt procedures allowing any interested party to submit information for the Committee's use in making reports and recommendations.

(h) The Committee shall transmit to the affected State agencies a copy of each report submitted under this Section and shall make those reports available to the public.

(i) Before making any recommendations, the Committee shall examine the budget consequences of those recommendations, directly or through consultation with the Commission or other appropriate expert entities.

(j) The Committee shall be composed of 17 members appointed by the Joint Committee on Legislative Support Services, in consultation with the Commission on Government Forecasting and Accountability. Membership shall include individuals with recognition for their expertise in health finance and economics, actuarial science, health facility management, health plans and integrated delivery systems, reimbursement of health facilities, allopathic and osteopathic medicine, and provision of health services or other related services and who provide a mix of different professionals, broad geographic representation, and a balance between urban and rural representatives. The membership of the Committee shall include, but not be limited to, physicians and other health professionals, experts in the area of pharmaco-economics or prescription drug benefit programs, employers, third-party payers, individuals skilled in the conduct and interpretation of biomedical, health services, and health economics research, and individuals with expertise in outcomes and effectiveness research and technology assessment. The membership shall also include representatives of consumers and the elderly. Individuals who are directly involved in the provision, or management of the delivery, of items and services covered under this Section shall not constitute a majority of the membership of the Committee. The Joint Committee on Legislative Support Services shall establish a system for public disclosure by members of the Committee of financial and other potential conflicts of interest relating to those members. Members of the Committee are employees of the General Assembly for purposes of the State Officials and Employees Ethics Act.

(k) The terms of members of the Committee shall be for 3 years, except that the Joint Committee on Legislative Support Services shall designate staggered terms for the members first appointed. Any member appointed to fill a vacancy occurring before the expiration of the term for which the member's predecessor was appointed shall be appointed only for the remainder of that term. A member may serve after the expiration of that member's term until a successor has been appointed and qualified. A vacancy in the Committee shall be filled in the manner in which the original appointment was made.

(l) Subject to appropriation, members of the Committee are entitled to expense reimbursement as provided in the rules of the Legislative Travel Control Board.

(m) The Joint Committee on Legislative Support Services shall designate a member of the Committee, at the time of appointment of the member, as Chairperson and a member as Vice Chairperson for that term of appointment, except that in the case of vacancy in the office of Chairperson or Vice Chairperson, the Joint Committee on Legislative Support Services may designate another member for the remainder of that member's term.

(n) The Committee shall meet at the call of the Chairperson.

Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon becoming law.