August
27, 2021
To
the Honorable Members of
The
Illinois House,
102nd
General Assembly:
Today
I veto House Bill 684 from the 102nd General Assembly, a bill that
seeks to amend Chapter 305 Article 5 of the Medical Assistance Article in the
Illinois Public Aid Code to exempt non-emergency ground ambulance services from
Illinois’ managed care medical assistance program.
My
administration appreciates the hard work of the sponsors of this legislation in
the House and Senate. However, if enacted, this legislation has the potential
to disrupt care and reduce the quality of provided medical transportation
services to some of the most vulnerable Illinoisans.
Currently,
when an enrollee in the medical assistance program needs non-emergency
ambulance transportation, they can contact their MCO, and the MCO’s
transportation broker is contractually obligated to locate a ride in a timely
fashion. If HB 684 were enacted, a consumer would be forced to use the vendor
contracted with by the fee-for-services program—a vendor that is not
contractually bound to provide timely services. Consumers would be forced into
the uncertain position of not knowing which of their healthcare services are
covered by their MCO and whether they will be able to secure transport in a
timely fashion. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the Department of Healthcare and
Family Services (HFS) received consumer complaints regarding the difficulty of
securing transport from the fee-for-service vendor to get to non-emergency
healthcare services like check-ups and dialysis.
I
understand that ambulance providers, like all healthcare industries, have faced
unprecedented challenges during COVID-19 and have risen to meet the healthcare
needs of the COVID-19 pandemic. That is why I recently signed multiple pieces
of legislation to help address concerns that the industry has raised in the
past year, from workforce shortage to payment structure. Many of those pieces
of legislation were negotiated along with the ambulance providers, but there
was no similar willingness by industry to negotiate HB 684.
I
recently signed the following bills, which were supported by the Ambulance
Association:
- SB1740
allows non-emergency ambulance providers to provide their own in-house driver
safety training programs provided they are approved by IDPH
-
HB2864
allows specified medical professionals in rural settings to serve as EMTs,
helping to alleviate the burden on rural EMS programs
-
SB693
includes industry language that requires IDPH to allow for alternative staffing
models in non-emergency ambulance trips. These alternative staffing models
would allow an EMR, who has less training than an EMT, to ride with an EMT,
instead of the current requirement that there be 2 EMTs.
-
SB2325
creates a $2 million funding pool for payments to non-emergency ambulance
providers for valid appeals of claims previously denied by HFS
In
addition, as mandated by previous legislation, 17 months ago HFS created a
complaints portal for ambulance providers to submit grievances regarding the
MCO system. To date, only 4 complaints have been submitted by ambulance
providers.
My
administration is committed to working with stakeholders and our partners in
the General Assembly to improve the managed care system in Illinois. For
example, I was proud to sign the Black Caucus’s Health & Human Services
bill, which brings a higher standard of oversight and accountability to the
program and the companies that administer it. Unfortunately, HB684 moves the
state further away from ensuring every Illinoian has access to quality,
affordable healthcare.
Therefore,
pursuant to Section 9(b) of Article IV of the Illinois Constitution of 1970, I
hereby return House Bill 684, entitled “AN ACT concerning public aid,” with the
foregoing objections, vetoed in its entirety.
Sincerely,
Governor
JB Pritzker