State of Illinois
91st General Assembly
Legislation

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91_HB4156

 
                                              LRB9111343JSpcA

 1        AN ACT to create the Access to Health Care Planning Act.

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

 4        Section 1.  Short title. This Act may  be  cited  as  the
 5    Access to Health Care Planning Act.

 6        Section  5.  Legislative  findings.  The General Assembly
 7    recognizes  that  an  estimated  1,513,000  Illinoisans   are
 8    without health insurance, a growing number of Illinoisans are
 9    under-insured,  the  consumer's  share  of the cost of health
10    insurance  is  growing,  coverage  in  benefit  packages   is
11    decreasing,  and  record  numbers  of consumer complaints are
12    lodged against managed care  companies  regarding  access  to
13    necessary   health   care  services.   The  General  Assembly
14    believes that the State must work to assure access to quality
15    health care for all residents of Illinois, and  at  the  same
16    time,   the  State  must  contain  health  care  costs  while
17    maintaining and improving the quality of  health  care.   The
18    General  Assembly  finds  that community-based primary health
19    care services provided by a wide range  of  qualified  health
20    care  providers  is  the  most  effective  way to achieve the
21    health and well-being of residents of Illinois.

22        Section 10.  Policy.  It is the policy of  the  State  of
23    Illinois  to insure that all residents have access to quality
24    health care at costs that are affordable.

25        Section 15.  Health  care  access  plan.   On  or  before
26    December  31,  2005,  the State of Illinois shall implement a
27    health care access plan that does the following:
28             (1)  provides access to a full range of  preventive,
29        acute, and long-term health care services;
 
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 1             (2)  maintains  and  improves  the quality of health
 2        care services offered to Illinois residents;
 3             (3)  provides portability of coverage, regardless of
 4        employment status;
 5             (4)  provides  uniform  benefits  for  all  Illinois
 6        residents;
 7             (5)  encourages   regional   and   local    consumer
 8        participation  in  decisions  about health care delivery,
 9        financing, and provider supply;
10             (6)  controls capital and overall expenditures;
11             (7)  provides  global  budgeting  for  health   care
12        providers;
13             (8)  avoids    unnecessary    duplication   in   the
14        development and availability of  health  care  facilities
15        and services;
16             (9)  provides   a   mechanism   for   reviewing  and
17        implementing multiple approaches to  preventive  medicine
18        based on new technologies; and
19             (10)  implements  comprehensive health planning tied
20        to a unified State health care budget.

21        Section 20.  Bipartisan Health  Care  Reform  Commission.
22    There  is created a Bipartisan Health Care Reform Commission.
23    The Commission shall consist  of  30  members  including  the
24    Director  of the Department of Public Health or his designee,
25    the Director of the Department on Aging or his designee,  the
26    Director of the Department of Public Aid or his designee, the
27    Director of the Department of Insurance or his designee,  and
28    3  members  from  the Department of Human Services, including
29    the Secretary of Human Services or his designee, the Director
30    of the Division of Community Health  and  Prevention  or  his
31    designee,  and the Director of the Division of Disability and
32    Behavioral Health Services, or  his  designee,  all  of  whom
33    shall  be  ex-officio  non-voting members.  Voting members of
 
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 1    the Commission shall  include  2  members  appointed  by  the
 2    President  of the Senate, 2 members appointed by the Minority
 3    Leader of the Senate, 2 members appointed by the  Speaker  of
 4    the  House of Representatives, and 2 members appointed by the
 5    Minority  Leader  of  the  House  of  Representatives.    The
 6    remaining 15 members shall be appointed by the  Governor  and
 7    shall  include  health  care  consumers, advocates for health
 8    care  consumers,  health  care   providers,   health   policy
 9    analysts,     representatives     from    organized    labor,
10    representatives from the business community, economists,  and
11    a  representative  from a statewide advocacy organization for
12    persons  with  disabilities.   Physicians,   nurses,   social
13    workers,   and   health   care   administrators   shall  have
14    representation on the Commission.   Appointment of members of
15    the Commission shall ensure proportional representation  with
16    respect  to geography, ethnicity, race, gender, and age.  The
17    Commission shall have a  chairman  and  a  vice-chairman  who
18    shall  be  elected by the voting members at the first meeting
19    of the Commission.  The members of the  Commission  shall  be
20    appointed  by  September  1,  2000.  The Departments of State
21    government  represented  on   the   Commission   shall   work
22    cooperatively  to  provide  administrative  support  for  the
23    Commission.

24        Section 25.  Public hearings and preliminary report.
25        (a)  The  Commission  shall  seek  public  input  on  the
26    development  of  the  health  care  access plan by holding at
27    least 10 public hearings in different geographic locations in
28    the State, including urban, rural, suburban, and  small  city
29    sites between September 1, 2000, and  December 1, 2001.   The
30    Commission  may  also  consult  with  health  care providers,
31    health care consumers, and other appropriate individuals  and
32    organizations to assist in the development of the health care
33    access plan.
 
                            -4-               LRB9111343JSpcA
 1        (b)  The  Commission shall submit a preliminary report on
 2    the status of the health care  access  plan  to  the  General
 3    Assembly  and  the Governor by no later than January 1, 2002.
 4    The preliminary report shall be based upon  the  meetings  of
 5    the  Commission  and  the public hearings and shall include a
 6    comparison analysis of proposals for health care coverage.

 7        Section 30.  Public hearings and final report.  Following
 8    the submission of  its  preliminary  report,  the  Commission
 9    shall   hold  10  additional  public  hearings  in  different
10    geographic locations in the State,  including  urban,  rural,
11    suburban,  and small city sites to obtain public input in the
12    development of the final  health  care  access  plan.   These
13    hearings  shall  be held between January 2, 2002 and December
14    31, 2003.  The Commission shall also  ensure  that  residents
15    throughout  the  State  of  Illinois  are  informed about the
16    different plan proposals under  consideration  including  the
17    content of each of the plan proposals and the impact each may
18    have  on  the  quality  and  availability  of  health care in
19    Illinois.
20        No later than  January  1,  2004,  the  Commission  shall
21    submit its final report on the health care access plan to the
22    General  Assembly  and  the  Governor.   The final report may
23    recommend more than one type of plan and alternative  methods
24    of   funding   the   plan.   The   final  report  shall  make
25    recommendations that, if implemented,  provide  access  to  a
26    full  range  of  preventive, acute, and long-term health care
27    services to residents of the State of  Illinois  by  December
28    31, 2005, including:
29             (1)  an  integrated system or systems of health care
30        delivery;
31             (2)  incentives to be  used  to  contain  costs  and
32        direct resources;
33             (3)  uniform  benefits  that would be provided under
 
                            -5-               LRB9111343JSpcA
 1        each type of plan;
 2             (4)  reimbursement  mechanisms   for   health   care
 3        providers;
 4             (5)  administrative efficiencies;
 5             (6)  mechanisms  for  generating spending priorities
 6        based on multidisciplinary standards of care  established
 7        by  verifiable  replicated research studies demonstrating
 8        quality  and   cost   effectiveness   of   interventions,
 9        providers, and facilities;
10             (7)  mechanisms  for  applying  and implementing the
11        unified health care budget on a statewide  basis  to  all
12        sectors of the health care system;
13             (8)  methods  for  reducing the cost of prescription
14        drugs both as part of, and as separate from,  the  health
15        care access plan;
16             (9)  appropriate  reallocation  of  existing  health
17        care resources;
18             (10)  equitable financing of each proposal; and
19             (11)  recommendations  concerning  the  delivery  of
20        long-term care services, including:
21                  (A)  those currently covered under Title XIX of
22             the Social Security Act;
23                  (B)  recommendations  on potential cost sharing
24             arrangements for long-term  care  services  and  the
25             phasing in of such arrangements over time;
26                  (C)  consideration   of   the   potential   for
27             utilizing informal care-giving by friends and family
28             members;
29                  (D)  recommendations     on    cost-containment
30             strategies for long-term care services;
31                  (E)  the  possibility  of   using   independent
32             financing   for  the  provision  of  long-term  care
33             services; and
34                  (F)  the  projected  cost  to  the   State   of
 
                            -6-               LRB9111343JSpcA
 1             Illinois  over  the next 20 years if no changes were
 2             made in the present system of delivering and  paying
 3             for long-term care services.
 4        The  final  report  shall  also include findings from the
 5    public hearings held by the  Commission  between  January  2,
 6    2002,  and  December  31,  2003.  In addition, the Commission
 7    shall present in its final report the range of services  that
 8    would  be available under each plan proposal if there were to
 9    be no increase, beyond inflation, in the total  gross  health
10    care expenditures in Illinois as determined by the Commission
11    for  the first year that the health care access plan would be
12    in  effect.   The  plan  proposals  shall  also  address  any
13    anticipated or actual changes in federal  policies  regarding
14    the  availability  and  cost  of health care and assess their
15    adequacy for achieving the goals of this Act.  The Commission
16    shall consult  with  the  Illinois  Department  on  Aging  in
17    developing its recommendations on long-term care services.

18        Section  35.  Effective Date.  This Act takes effect upon
19    becoming law.

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