(305 ILCS 75/185-15)

Sec. 185-15. Collaboration. The Medicaid Technical Assistance Center shall collaborate with public and private partners throughout the State to identify, establish, and maintain best practices necessary for health providers to ensure their capacity to participate in HealthChoice Illinois or YouthCare. The Medicaid Technical Assistance Center shall administer the following:

(1) Outreach and engagement: The Medicaid Technical Assistance Center shall undertake efforts to identify and engage community-based providers offering behavioral health services or services addressing the social determinants of health, especially those predominantly serving communities of color or those operating within or near service deserts, for the purpose of offering training and technical assistance to them through the Medicaid Technical Assistance Center. Outreach and engagement services may be subcontracted.

(2) Trainings: The Medicaid Technical Assistance Center shall create and administer ongoing trainings for health care providers. Trainings may be subcontracted. The Medicaid Technical Assistance Center shall provide in-person and web-based trainings. In-person training shall be conducted throughout the State. All trainings must be free of charge. The Medicaid Technical Assistance Center shall administer post-training surveys and incorporate feedback. Training content and delivery must be reflective of Illinois providers' varying levels of readiness, resources, and client populations.

(3) Web-based resources: The Medicaid Technical Assistance Center shall maintain an independent, easy to navigate, and up-to-date website that includes, but is not limited to: recorded training archives, a training calendar, provider resources and tools, up-to-date explanations of Department and managed care organization guidance, a running database of frequently asked questions and contact information for key staff members of the Department, managed care organizations, and the Medicaid Technical Assistance Center.

(4) Learning collaboratives: The Medicaid Technical Assistance Center shall host regional learning collaboratives that will supplement the Medicaid Technical Assistance Center training curriculum to bring together groups of stakeholders to share issues and best practices, and to escalate issues. Leadership of the Department and managed care organizations shall attend learning collaboratives on a quarterly basis.

(5) Network adequacy reports: The Medicaid Technical Assistance Center shall publicly release a report on Medicaid provider network adequacy within the first 3 years of implementation and annually thereafter. The reports shall identify provider service deserts and health care disparities by race and ethnicity.

(6) Equitable delivery system: The Medicaid Technical Assistance Center is committed to the principle that all Medicaid recipients have accessible and equitable physical and mental health care services. All providers served through the Medicaid Technical Assistance Center shall deliver services notwithstanding the patient's race, color, gender, gender identity, age, ancestry, marital status, military status, religion, national origin, disability status, sexual orientation, order of protection status, as defined under Section 1-103 of the Illinois Human Rights Act, or immigration status.

(Source: P.A. 102-4, eff. 4-27-21.)