Full Text of HR0445 100th General Assembly
HR0445enr 100TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY |
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| 1 | | HOUSE RESOLUTION 445
| 2 | | On May 5, 2017, the United States House of
Representatives | 3 | | passed H.R. 1628, otherwise known as the
American Health Care | 4 | | Act (AHCA); and | 5 | | WHEREAS, In March of 2017, the Congressional Budget Office
| 6 | | estimated that 24 million people would lose health insurance if
| 7 | | the AHCA were passed and implemented; of those 24 million
| 8 | | people, 14 million are currently covered by Medicaid, which the
| 9 | | AHCA would also slash by about $880 billion over 10 years,
| 10 | | putting some of the poorest and most vulnerable citizens at
| 11 | | great risk; and | 12 | | WHEREAS, As a result of passage of the AHCA, Illinois could | 13 | | face
a loss of $40 billion in federal Medicaid funding over the | 14 | | next
10 years, affecting over one million Illinois residents | 15 | | who
currently have coverage under the Affordable Care Act; and | 16 | | WHEREAS, Currently, Illinois is ranked 50th in the nation | 17 | | for
capturing federal Medicaid dollars putting the State in an
| 18 | | extremely vulnerable position and unable to absorb more costs
| 19 | | from the federal government; and | 20 | | WHEREAS, The AHCA also allows states to waive community | 21 | | rating,
which bans insurers from charging higher premiums to | 22 | | those with
pre-existing conditions and would result in much |
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| 1 | | higher premiums
for people with pre-existing conditions; and | 2 | | WHEREAS, As a result of waiving the ban on pre-existing
| 3 | | conditions, the cost of insurance will increase for people with
| 4 | | pre-existing conditions such as cancer, diabetes, arthritis,
| 5 | | autistic disorder, seizures, asthma, kidney disease, and
| 6 | | children with disabilities; and | 7 | | WHEREAS, The AHCA also has a provision letting states waive
| 8 | | essential health benefits such as outpatient care, emergency
| 9 | | services, hospitalization, pregnancy, maternity, newborn care,
| 10 | | mental health and substance use disorder services, and | 11 | | pediatric
services; and | 12 | | WHEREAS, Waiving of essential benefits puts mothers and | 13 | | children
at severe risk of losing coverage as plans on the | 14 | | individual
market can once again decide not to cover maternity | 15 | | care as a
result of the AHCA; and | 16 | | WHEREAS, The law would also adopt a policy known as a "per
| 17 | | capita cap" for Medicaid that would replace the current funding
| 18 | | mechanism and rather than matching state spending; the AHCA | 19 | | would give each state a set amount of money per person and | 20 | | place
specific caps for differing populations such as the | 21 | | people with
disabilities, the elderly, and other at-risk | 22 | | populations; and |
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| 1 | | WHEREAS, As a result of placing a cap on spending, people | 2 | | with
disabilities who rely on home and community based services
| 3 | | through Medicaid, such as personal-attendant care, skilled
| 4 | | nursing, and specialized therapies could lose access to the
| 5 | | services they need in order to live independently and remain in
| 6 | | their homes; and | 7 | | WHEREAS, The AHCA also places the elderly at risk; as | 8 | | states
continue to see rising populations as a result of the | 9 | | baby boom
generation, implementing a per capita cap on spending | 10 | | may
restrict states' abilities to keep up with the demand for
| 11 | | services resulting in premature institutionalization, lack of
| 12 | | services, and reduced quality of life for our seniors; and | 13 | | WHEREAS, The AHCA poses a threat for persons with substance
| 14 | | abuse disorders; the opioid crisis in Illinois has placed a
| 15 | | heavier burden on the State's Medicaid program and has resulted
| 16 | | in an immense need for increased services; a per capita cap | 17 | | will
limit the State's ability to leverage additional monies in | 18 | | times
of crises or epidemic, further hampering the State's | 19 | | ability to
be responsive to the needs of its most vulnerable | 20 | | populations
during the most critical times; and | 21 | | WHEREAS, The law allows states to impose work requirements | 22 | | on
those applying for Medicaid, which has not been proven to
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| 1 | | increase employment among the poor and will meaningfully reduce
| 2 | | access to care for low income families; and | 3 | | WHEREAS, On June 22, 2017, the United States Senate | 4 | | introduced a proposed amendment for discussion to H.R. 1628, | 5 | | known as the Better Care Reconciliation Act of 2017; and | 6 | | WHEREAS, While the Better Care Reconciliation Act of 2017 | 7 | | contains changes to the original AHCA, the new proposed | 8 | | amendment still contains significant cuts to both state | 9 | | Medicaid programs as well as state healthcare exchanges and | 10 | | continues to put some of the poorest and most vulnerable | 11 | | citizens at great risk; and | 12 | | WHEREAS, The legislation results in over 22 million people | 13 | | losing their insurance coverage, and reduces spending on | 14 | | healthcare services by over $700 billion while also providing | 15 | | over $541 billion in tax breaks for extremely wealthy | 16 | | individuals and corporations; and | 17 | | WHEREAS, The Better Care Reconciliation Act of 2017 | 18 | | continues to propose elimination of health insurance coverage | 19 | | for the Medicaid expansion population in Illinois, thus | 20 | | completely eliminating healthcare coverage for over 650,000 | 21 | | Illinoisans who currently only have insurance as a result of | 22 | | the State's decision to expand Medicaid; and |
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| 1 | | WHEREAS, The act also continues to pursue "per capita caps" | 2 | | for Medicaid severely placing billions of dollars in federal | 3 | | funding in jeopardy for Illinois which may result in | 4 | | elimination of services, reductions in services offered, rate | 5 | | cuts for providers, or limiting coverage of high cost | 6 | | enrollees; and | 7 | | WHEREAS, The Better Care Reconciliation Act of 2017 reduces | 8 | | the amount of subsidies to persons who purchase health | 9 | | insurance on the healthcare exchange, and reduces the amount of | 10 | | persons eligible to receive the subsidies for exchange plans | 11 | | that provide less health insurance plans and contain higher | 12 | | deductibles than current healthcare plans on the exchange; and | 13 | | WHEREAS, The act continues its attack on healthcare for | 14 | | women by reducing access to family planning services and | 15 | | maternity care services, and allowing insurance companies to | 16 | | charge higher premiums for women; and | 17 | | WHEREAS, The Better Care Reconciliation Act of 2017 also | 18 | | places seniors at an even higher risk of losing nursing home | 19 | | care than the AHCA as a result of eliminations of presumptive | 20 | | eligibility for Medicaid recipients to obtain benefits and | 21 | | retroactive eligibility for Medicaid recipients to get paid for | 22 | | services they have already received; and |
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| 1 | | WHEREAS, The Better Care Reconciliation Act of 2017 also
| 2 | | continues to allow states to waive essential health benefits as
| 3 | | provided under the Affordable Care Act, continually placing | 4 | | many
people at risk of losing the most basic healthcare | 5 | | benefits such as maternity care, mental health care, substance | 6 | | abuse and opioid treatment, and pharmacy benefits; and | 7 | | WHEREAS, The true intention of both policies are revealed | 8 | | in the provisions that create financial incentives for states | 9 | | to increase Medicaid redeterminations in order to kick people | 10 | | off of the Medicaid program, and financial incentives for | 11 | | states to reduce the amount of healthcare services provided by | 12 | | Medicaid; and | 13 | | WHEREAS, The Governor has yet to
officially take a position | 14 | | on the American Health Care Act or
the Better Care | 15 | | Reconciliation Act of 2017, despite the fact
that both stand to | 16 | | negatively affect millions of Illinois
residents and cause | 17 | | major financial harm to the State's budget
and the broader | 18 | | system of healthcare across Illinois; and | 19 | | WHEREAS, When the Governor has been asked to provide a | 20 | | position on the American Health Care Act or the Better Care | 21 | | Reconciliation Act of 2017, he has continually dodged the | 22 | | question, refused to provide a direct answer, or attempted to |
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| 1 | | circumvent any responsibility for these proposed policies; and | 2 | | WHEREAS, As the Governor has the supreme executive power in | 3 | | the
State under the Illinois Constitution, it is imperative
| 4 | | that he directly provide guidance to our Congressional
| 5 | | delegation and the people of Illinois regarding his position on | 6 | | the
American Healthcare Act and the Better Care Reconciliation | 7 | | Act
of 2017, both of which will have a disastrous effect on the
| 8 | | poorest and neediest persons in the State and will devastate | 9 | | the
critical social safety net they rely on; and | 10 | | WHEREAS, Medicare is a federal health insurance program | 11 | | that currently pays for a variety of health care expenses for | 12 | | senior citizens aged 65 and older and people with certain other | 13 | | qualifying conditions only; and | 14 | | WHEREAS, Medicare currently insures over 55 million | 15 | | Americans, and nearly everyone over age 65; in Illinois alone, | 16 | | over 2 million people receive Medicare benefits; and | 17 | | WHEREAS, There have been recent legislative efforts at the | 18 | | federal level to expand Medicare for all persons in the United | 19 | | States, not just those currently eligible which would provide | 20 | | coverage for all medically necessary services, including | 21 | | doctors' visits, hospital care, prevention programs, long-term | 22 | | care, mental health, reproductive health care, dental, vision, |
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| 1 | | prescription drug, and medical supply costs; and | 2 | | WHEREAS, Children (unmarried and under age 22) can only | 3 | | receive Medicare if they are disabled or have a qualifying | 4 | | condition and make up less than 7% of the current population of | 5 | | people on Medicare; and | 6 | | WHEREAS, Expanding the federal Medicare program to those | 7 | | who need care the most can be a positive step to strengthen our | 8 | | nation's commitment to improving the health and safety of all | 9 | | Americans and reduce the risk of cuts posed by the AHCA and the | 10 | | Better Care Reconciliation Act of 2017, to those that are most | 11 | | vulnerable; therefore be it | 12 | | RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE ONE | 13 | | HUNDREDTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we | 14 | | strongly urge the federal government, the United States | 15 | | Congress, and the President of the United States, to oppose the | 16 | | American Health Care Act, the Better Care Reconciliation Act of | 17 | | 2017, or any other legislative efforts that would reduce access | 18 | | to healthcare for low-income and at-risk populations and to | 19 | | expand the federal Medicare program for people most in need | 20 | | especially children, women, and those with pre-existing | 21 | | conditions, that are put at extreme risk as a result of passage | 22 | | of either the American Health Care Act or the Better Care | 23 | | Reconciliation Act of 2017; and be it further |
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| 1 | | RESOLVED, That we strongly urge the Governor of the state | 2 | | of Illinois to be responsive to the needs of Illinois residents | 3 | | and directly engage with the President of the United States, | 4 | | and Republican members of the Illinois Congressional | 5 | | delegation regarding the devastating consequences associated | 6 | | with both the American Health Care Act and the Better Care | 7 | | Reconciliation Act of 2017; and be it further | 8 | | RESOLVED, That suitable copies of this resolution be | 9 | | delivered to the Governor of the State of Illinois, the | 10 | | Illinois Congressional delegation, the United States Congress, | 11 | | and the President of the United States.
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