93RD GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2003 and 2004
HB4562

 

Introduced 02/03/04, by William Delgado

 

SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:
 
New Act

    Creates the Health Care Justice Act. Provides that by July 1, 2007, the State of Illinois shall implement a health care access plan that provides access to a full range of preventive, acute, and long-term health care services and contains other features. Establishes the Adequate Health Care Task Force with members appointed by the Governor. Provides for public hearings and requires a final report from the Task Force by March 15, 2006. Requires enactment of legislation by December 31, 2006. Effective July 1, 2004.


LRB093 17706 DRJ 43383 b

FISCAL NOTE ACT MAY APPLY

 

 

A BILL FOR

 

HB4562 LRB093 17706 DRJ 43383 b

1     AN ACT concerning health care.
 
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 Health
5 Care Justice Act.
 
6     Section 5. Legislative findings. The General Assembly
7 recognizes that the U.S. census reported that on any given day
8 an estimated 1,800,000 Illinoisans are without health
9 insurance, and according to a March 2003 Robert Wood Johnson
10 study, nearly 30% of the non-elderly Illinois population
11 (3,122,000) during all or a large part of 2001 or 2002 were
12 uninsured; a growing number of Illinoisans are under-insured,
13 the consumer's share of the cost of health insurance is
14 growing, coverage in benefit packages is decreasing, and record
15 numbers of consumer complaints are lodged against managed care
16 companies regarding access to necessary health care services.
17 The General Assembly believes that the State must work to
18 assure access to quality health care for all residents of
19 Illinois, and at the same time, the State must contain health
20 care costs while maintaining and improving the quality of
21 health care. The General Assembly finds that community-based
22 primary health care services provided by a wide range of
23 qualified health care providers is the most effective way to
24 achieve the health and well-being of residents of Illinois.
 
25     Section 10. Policy. It is the policy of the State of
26 Illinois to insure that all residents have access to quality
27 health care at costs that are affordable.
 
28     Section 15. Health care access plan. On or before July 1,
29 2007, the State of Illinois shall implement a health care
30 access plan that does the following:

 

 

HB4562 - 2 - LRB093 17706 DRJ 43383 b

1         (1) provides access to a full range of preventive,
2     acute, and long-term health care services;
3         (2) maintains and improves the quality of health care
4     services offered to Illinois residents;
5         (3) provides portability of coverage, regardless of
6     employment status;
7         (4) provides core benefits for all Illinois residents;
8         (5) encourages regional and local consumer
9     participation;
10         (6) contains cost-containment measures;
11         (7) provides a mechanism for reviewing and
12     implementing multiple approaches to preventive medicine
13     based on new technologies; and
14         (8) promotes affordable coverage options for the small
15     business market.
 
16     Section 20. Adequate Health Care Task Force. There is
17 created an Adequate Health Care Task Force. The Task Force
18 shall consist of 24 members, including the Director of Public
19 Health or his or her designee, the Director of Aging or his or
20 her designee, the Director of Public Aid or his or her
21 designee, the Director of Insurance or his or her designee, and
22 the Secretary of Human Services or his or her designee, all of
23 whom shall be ex-officio non-voting members. The remaining 19
24 members of the Task Force shall be voting members and shall be
25 appointed by the Governor, one from each congressional district
26 in Illinois. These voting members shall be appointed to include
27 representation of health care consumers, advocates for health
28 care consumers, health care providers, health policy analysts,
29 organized labor, the business community or a business
30 association, economists, a statewide advocacy organization for
31 persons with disabilities, physicians, nurses, social workers,
32 a hospital or hospital network or association, an insurer or
33 insurance group, and health care administrators. Appointment
34 of members of the Task Force shall ensure proportional
35 representation with respect to geography, ethnicity, race,

 

 

HB4562 - 3 - LRB093 17706 DRJ 43383 b

1 gender, and age. The Task Force shall have a chairman and a
2 vice-chairman who shall be elected by the voting members at the
3 first meeting of the Task Force. The members of the Task Force
4 shall be appointed within 30 days after the effective date of
5 this Act. The departments of State government represented on
6 the Task Force shall work cooperatively to provide
7 administrative support for the Task Force, with the Department
8 of Public Health taking the lead.
 
9     Section 25. Public hearings.
10     (a) The Task Force shall seek public input on the
11 development of the health care access plan by holding a public
12 hearing in each Illinois congressional district starting no
13 later than January 1, 2005 and ending on November 30, 2005.
14 Each State Representative and State Senator located in each
15 such congressional district shall host or otherwise involve
16 themselves in the hearing in that district and help to gather
17 input. A web site for the Task Force shall be developed and
18 linked to the General Assembly's home page and the Governor's
19 home page for input to be provided and to keep the public
20 informed. The Task Force's web site shall be specifically
21 highlighted and have independent pages reporting all
22 activities and linkages for people to access. Minutes from all
23 of the Task Force's meetings shall be available on the web
24 site, and a hard copy of this information shall also be made
25 available for those persons without access to the Task Force's
26 web site. The Task Force may also consult with health care
27 providers, health care consumers, and other appropriate
28 individuals and organizations to assist in the development of
29 the health care access plan.
30     (b) Not later than September 1, 2004, the Illinois
31 Department of Public Health, subject to appropriation or the
32 availability of other funds for such purposes and using a
33 public request for proposals process, shall contract with an
34 independent research entity experienced in assessing health
35 care reforms, health care financing, and health care delivery

 

 

HB4562 - 4 - LRB093 17706 DRJ 43383 b

1 models. Upon the request of at least one-fourth of the Task
2 Force members, the research entity shall be available to the
3 Task Force for the purpose of assessing financial costs and the
4 different health care models being discussed. All inquiries
5 made by Task Force members to the independent research entity
6 shall be made available on the Task Force's web site.
 
7     Section 30. Final report. No later than March 15, 2006, the
8 Task Force shall submit its final report on the health care
9 access plan to the General Assembly and the Governor. The final
10 report may recommend a combination of more than one type of
11 plan and alternative methods of funding the plan. The final
12 report by the Task Force shall make recommendations that shall
13 be the basis for a health care access plan or plans that shall
14 attempt to answer all or some of the following issues that
15 would provide access to a full range of preventive, acute, and
16 long-term health care services to residents of the State of
17 Illinois by July 1, 2007, including:
18         (1) an integrated system or systems of health care
19     delivery;
20         (2) incentives to be used to contain costs;
21         (3) core benefits that would be provided under each
22     type of plan;
23         (4) reimbursement mechanisms for health care
24     providers;
25         (5) administrative efficiencies;
26         (6) mechanisms for generating spending priorities
27     based on multidisciplinary standards of care established
28     by verifiable replicated research studies demonstrating
29     quality and cost effectiveness of interventions,
30     providers, and facilities;
31         (7) methods for reducing the cost of prescription drugs
32     both as part of, and as separate from, the health care
33     access plan;
34         (8) appropriate reallocation of existing health care
35     resources;

 

 

HB4562 - 5 - LRB093 17706 DRJ 43383 b

1         (9) equitable financing of each proposal; and
2         (10) recommendations concerning the delivery of
3     long-term care services, including:
4             (A) those currently covered under Title XIX of the
5         Social Security Act;
6             (B) recommendations on potential cost sharing
7         arrangements for long-term care services and the
8         phasing in of such arrangements over time;
9             (C) consideration of the potential for utilizing
10         informal care-giving by friends and family members;
11             (D) recommendations on cost-containment strategies
12         for long-term care services;
13             (E) the possibility of using independent financing
14         for the provision of long-term care services; and
15             (F) the projected cost to the State of Illinois
16         over the next 20 years if no changes were made in the
17         present system of delivering and paying for long-term
18         care services.
 
19     Section 35. Further legislative action. No later than
20 December 31, 2006, the General Assembly shall vote on
21 legislation that either enacts the Task Force's recommendation
22 or provides for another health care access plan that meets the
23 criteria set forth in Section 15.
 
24     Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect on July
25 1, 2004.