Public Act 0144 102ND GENERAL ASSEMBLY

SB0471 Enrolled LRB102 09983 BMS 15301 b

Public Act 102-0144

AN ACT concerning regulation.

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

Section 5. The Network Adequacy and Transparency Act is amended by changing Section 10 as follows:

(215 ILCS 124/10)

Sec. 10. Network adequacy.

(a) An insurer providing a network plan shall file a description of all of the following with the Director:

(1) The written policies and procedures for adding providers to meet patient needs based on increases in the number of beneficiaries, changes in the patient-to-provider ratio, changes in medical and health care capabilities, and increased demand for services.

(2) The written policies and procedures for making referrals within and outside the network.

(3) The written policies and procedures on how the network plan will provide 24-hour, 7-day per week access to network-affiliated primary care, emergency services, and woman's principal health care providers.

An insurer shall not prohibit a preferred provider from discussing any specific or all treatment options with beneficiaries irrespective of the insurer's position on those treatment options or from advocating on behalf of beneficiaries within the utilization review, grievance, or appeals processes established by the insurer in accordance with any rights or remedies available under applicable State or federal law.

(b) Insurers must file for review a description of the services to be offered through a network plan. The description shall include all of the following:

(1) A geographic map of the area proposed to be served by the plan by county service area and zip code, including marked locations for preferred providers.

(2) As deemed necessary by the Department, the names, addresses, phone numbers, and specialties of the providers who have entered into preferred provider agreements under the network plan.

(3) The number of beneficiaries anticipated to be covered by the network plan.

(4) An Internet website and toll-free telephone number for beneficiaries and prospective beneficiaries to access current and accurate lists of preferred providers, additional information about the plan, as well as any other information required by Department rule.

(5) A description of how health care services to be rendered under the network plan are reasonably accessible and available to beneficiaries. The description shall address all of the following:

(A) the type of health care services to be provided by the network plan;

(B) the ratio of physicians and other providers to beneficiaries, by specialty and including primary care physicians and facility-based physicians when applicable under the contract, necessary to meet the health care needs and service demands of the currently enrolled population;

(C) the travel and distance standards for plan beneficiaries in county service areas; and

(D) a description of how the use of telemedicine, telehealth, or mobile care services may be used to partially meet the network adequacy standards, if applicable.

(6) A provision ensuring that whenever a beneficiary has made a good faith effort, as evidenced by accessing the provider directory, calling the network plan, and calling the provider, to utilize preferred providers for a covered service and it is determined the insurer does not have the appropriate preferred providers due to insufficient number, type, or unreasonable travel distance or delay, the insurer shall ensure, directly or indirectly, by terms contained in the payer contract, that the beneficiary will be provided the covered service at no greater cost to the beneficiary than if the service had been provided by a preferred provider. This paragraph (6) does not apply to: (A) a beneficiary who willfully chooses to access a non-preferred provider for health care services available through the panel of preferred providers, or (B) a beneficiary enrolled in a health maintenance organization. In these circumstances, the contractual requirements for non-preferred provider reimbursements shall apply.

(7) A provision that the beneficiary shall receive emergency care coverage such that payment for this coverage is not dependent upon whether the emergency services are performed by a preferred or non-preferred provider and the coverage shall be at the same benefit level as if the service or treatment had been rendered by a preferred provider. For purposes of this paragraph (7), "the same benefit level" means that the beneficiary is provided the covered service at no greater cost to the beneficiary than if the service had been provided by a preferred provider.

(8) A limitation that, if the plan provides that the beneficiary will incur a penalty for failing to pre-certify inpatient hospital treatment, the penalty may not exceed $1,000 per occurrence in addition to the plan cost sharing provisions.

(c) The network plan shall demonstrate to the Director a minimum ratio of providers to plan beneficiaries as required by the Department.

(1) The ratio of physicians or other providers to plan beneficiaries shall be established annually by the Department in consultation with the Department of Public Health based upon the guidance from the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. The Department shall not establish ratios for vision or dental providers who provide services under dental-specific or vision-specific benefits. The Department shall consider establishing ratios for the following physicians or other providers:

(A) Primary Care;

(B) Pediatrics;

(C) Cardiology;

(D) Gastroenterology;

(E) General Surgery;

(F) Neurology;

(G) OB/GYN;

(H) Oncology/Radiation;

(I) Ophthalmology;

(J) Urology;

(K) Behavioral Health;

(L) Allergy/Immunology;

(M) Chiropractic;

(N) Dermatology;

(O) Endocrinology;

(P) Ears, Nose, and Throat (ENT)/Otolaryngology;

(Q) Infectious Disease;

(R) Nephrology;

(S) Neurosurgery;

(T) Orthopedic Surgery;

(U) Physiatry/Rehabilitative;

(V) Plastic Surgery;

(W) Pulmonary;

(X) Rheumatology;

(Y) Anesthesiology;

(Z) Pain Medicine;

(AA) Pediatric Specialty Services;

(BB) Outpatient Dialysis; and

(CC) HIV.

(2) The Director shall establish a process for the review of the adequacy of these standards, along with an assessment of additional specialties to be included in the list under this subsection (c).

(d) The network plan shall demonstrate to the Director maximum travel and distance standards for plan beneficiaries, which shall be established annually by the Department in consultation with the Department of Public Health based upon the guidance from the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. These standards shall consist of the maximum minutes or miles to be traveled by a plan beneficiary for each county type, such as large counties, metro counties, or rural counties as defined by Department rule.

The maximum travel time and distance standards must include standards for each physician and other provider category listed for which ratios have been established.

The Director shall establish a process for the review of the adequacy of these standards along with an assessment of additional specialties to be included in the list under this subsection (d).

(d-5) (1) Every insurer shall ensure that beneficiaries have timely and proximate access to treatment for mental, emotional, nervous, or substance use disorders or conditions in accordance with the provisions of paragraph (4) of subsection (a) of Section 370c of the Illinois Insurance Code. Insurers shall use a comparable process, strategy, evidentiary standard, and other factors in the development and application of the network adequacy standards for timely and proximate access to treatment for mental, emotional, nervous, or substance use disorders or conditions and those for the access to treatment for medical and surgical conditions. As such, the network adequacy standards for timely and proximate access shall equally be applied to treatment facilities and providers for mental, emotional, nervous, or substance use disorders or conditions and specialists providing medical or surgical benefits pursuant to the parity requirements of Section 370c.1 of the Illinois Insurance Code and the federal Paul Wellstone and Pete Domenici Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act of 2008. Notwithstanding the foregoing, the network adequacy standards for timely and proximate access to treatment for mental, emotional, nervous, or substance use disorders or conditions shall, at a minimum, satisfy the following requirements:

(A) For beneficiaries residing in the metropolitan counties of Cook, DuPage, Kane, Lake, McHenry, and Will, network adequacy standards for timely and proximate access to treatment for mental, emotional, nervous, or substance use disorders or conditions means a beneficiary shall not have to travel longer than 30 minutes or 30 miles from the beneficiary's residence to receive outpatient treatment for mental, emotional, nervous, or substance use disorders or conditions. Beneficiaries shall not be required to wait longer than 10 business days between requesting an initial appointment and being seen by the facility or provider of mental, emotional, nervous, or substance use disorders or conditions for outpatient treatment or to wait longer than 20 business days between requesting a repeat or follow-up appointment and being seen by the facility or provider of mental, emotional, nervous, or substance use disorders or conditions for outpatient treatment; however, subject to the protections of paragraph (3) of this subsection, a network plan shall not be held responsible if the beneficiary or provider voluntarily chooses to schedule an appointment outside of these required time frames.

(B) For beneficiaries residing in Illinois counties other than those counties listed in subparagraph (A) of this paragraph, network adequacy standards for timely and proximate access to treatment for mental, emotional, nervous, or substance use disorders or conditions means a beneficiary shall not have to travel longer than 60 minutes or 60 miles from the beneficiary's residence to receive outpatient treatment for mental, emotional, nervous, or substance use disorders or conditions. Beneficiaries shall not be required to wait longer than 10 business days between requesting an initial appointment and being seen by the facility or provider of mental, emotional, nervous, or substance use disorders or conditions for outpatient treatment or to wait longer than 20 business days between requesting a repeat or follow-up appointment and being seen by the facility or provider of mental, emotional, nervous, or substance use disorders or conditions for outpatient treatment; however, subject to the protections of paragraph (3) of this subsection, a network plan shall not be held responsible if the beneficiary or provider voluntarily chooses to schedule an appointment outside of these required time frames.

(2) For beneficiaries residing in all Illinois counties, network adequacy standards for timely and proximate access to treatment for mental, emotional, nervous, or substance use disorders or conditions means a beneficiary shall not have to travel longer than 60 minutes or 60 miles from the beneficiary's residence to receive inpatient or residential treatment for mental, emotional, nervous, or substance use disorders or conditions.

(3) If there is no in-network facility or provider available for a beneficiary to receive timely and proximate access to treatment for mental, emotional, nervous, or substance use disorders or conditions in accordance with the network adequacy standards outlined in this subsection, the insurer shall provide necessary exceptions to its network to ensure admission and treatment with a provider or at a treatment facility in accordance with the network adequacy standards in this subsection.

(e) Except for network plans solely offered as a group health plan, these ratio and time and distance standards apply to the lowest cost-sharing tier of any tiered network.

(f) The network plan may consider use of other health care service delivery options, such as telemedicine or telehealth, mobile clinics, and centers of excellence, or other ways of delivering care to partially meet the requirements set under this Section.

(g) Except for the requirements set forth in subsection (d-5), insurers Insurers who are not able to comply with the provider ratios and time and distance standards established by the Department may request an exception to these requirements from the Department. The Department may grant an exception in the following circumstances:

(1) if no providers or facilities meet the specific time and distance standard in a specific service area and the insurer (i) discloses information on the distance and travel time points that beneficiaries would have to travel beyond the required criterion to reach the next closest contracted provider outside of the service area and (ii) provides contact information, including names, addresses, and phone numbers for the next closest contracted provider or facility;

(2) if patterns of care in the service area do not support the need for the requested number of provider or facility type and the insurer provides data on local patterns of care, such as claims data, referral patterns, or local provider interviews, indicating where the beneficiaries currently seek this type of care or where the physicians currently refer beneficiaries, or both; or

(3) other circumstances deemed appropriate by the Department consistent with the requirements of this Act.

(h) Insurers are required to report to the Director any material change to an approved network plan within 15 days after the change occurs and any change that would result in failure to meet the requirements of this Act. Upon notice from the insurer, the Director shall reevaluate the network plan's compliance with the network adequacy and transparency standards of this Act.

(Source: P.A. 100-502, eff. 9-15-17; 100-601, eff. 6-29-18.)

Section 10. The Illinois Public Aid Code is amended by changing Sections 5-16.8 and 5-30.1 as follows:

(305 ILCS 5/5-16.8)

Sec. 5-16.8. Required health benefits. The medical assistance program shall (i) provide the post-mastectomy care benefits required to be covered by a policy of accident and health insurance under Section 356t and the coverage required under Sections 356g.5, 356u, 356w, 356x, 356z.6, 356z.26, 356z.29, 356z.32, 356z.33, 356z.34, and 356z.35 of the Illinois Insurance Code, and (ii) be subject to the provisions of Sections 356z.19, 364.01, 370c, and 370c.1 of the Illinois Insurance Code, and (iii) be subject to the provisions of subsection (d-5) of Section 10 of the Network Adequacy and Transparency Act.

The Department, by rule, shall adopt a model similar to the requirements of Section 356z.39 of the Illinois Insurance Code.

On and after July 1, 2012, the Department shall reduce any rate of reimbursement for services or other payments or alter any methodologies authorized by this Code to reduce any rate of reimbursement for services or other payments in accordance with Section 5-5e.

To ensure full access to the benefits set forth in this Section, on and after January 1, 2016, the Department shall ensure that provider and hospital reimbursement for post-mastectomy care benefits required under this Section are no lower than the Medicare reimbursement rate.

(Source: P.A. 100-138, eff. 8-18-17; 100-863, eff. 8-14-18; 100-1057, eff. 1-1-19; 100-1102, eff. 1-1-19; 101-81, eff. 7-12-19; 101-218, eff. 1-1-20; 101-281, eff. 1-1-20; 101-371, eff. 1-1-20; 101-574, eff. 1-1-20; 101-649, eff. 7-7-20.)

(305 ILCS 5/5-30.1)

Sec. 5-30.1. Managed care protections.

(a) As used in this Section:

"Managed care organization" or "MCO" means any entity which contracts with the Department to provide services where payment for medical services is made on a capitated basis.

"Emergency services" include:

(1) emergency services, as defined by Section 10 of the Managed Care Reform and Patient Rights Act;

(2) emergency medical screening examinations, as defined by Section 10 of the Managed Care Reform and Patient Rights Act;

(3) post-stabilization medical services, as defined by Section 10 of the Managed Care Reform and Patient Rights Act; and

(4) emergency medical conditions, as defined by Section 10 of the Managed Care Reform and Patient Rights Act.

(b) As provided by Section 5-16.12, managed care organizations are subject to the provisions of the Managed Care Reform and Patient Rights Act.

(c) An MCO shall pay any provider of emergency services that does not have in effect a contract with the contracted Medicaid MCO. The default rate of reimbursement shall be the rate paid under Illinois Medicaid fee-for-service program methodology, including all policy adjusters, including but not limited to Medicaid High Volume Adjustments, Medicaid Percentage Adjustments, Outpatient High Volume Adjustments, and all outlier add-on adjustments to the extent such adjustments are incorporated in the development of the applicable MCO capitated rates.

(d) An MCO shall pay for all post-stabilization services as a covered service in any of the following situations:

(1) the MCO authorized such services;

(2) such services were administered to maintain the enrollee's stabilized condition within one hour after a request to the MCO for authorization of further post-stabilization services;

(3) the MCO did not respond to a request to authorize such services within one hour;

(4) the MCO could not be contacted; or

(5) the MCO and the treating provider, if the treating provider is a non-affiliated provider, could not reach an agreement concerning the enrollee's care and an affiliated provider was unavailable for a consultation, in which case the MCO must pay for such services rendered by the treating non-affiliated provider until an affiliated provider was reached and either concurred with the treating non-affiliated provider's plan of care or assumed responsibility for the enrollee's care. Such payment shall be made at the default rate of reimbursement paid under Illinois Medicaid fee-for-service program methodology, including all policy adjusters, including but not limited to Medicaid High Volume Adjustments, Medicaid Percentage Adjustments, Outpatient High Volume Adjustments and all outlier add-on adjustments to the extent that such adjustments are incorporated in the development of the applicable MCO capitated rates.

(e) The following requirements apply to MCOs in determining payment for all emergency services:

(1) MCOs shall not impose any requirements for prior approval of emergency services.

(2) The MCO shall cover emergency services provided to enrollees who are temporarily away from their residence and outside the contracting area to the extent that the enrollees would be entitled to the emergency services if they still were within the contracting area.

(3) The MCO shall have no obligation to cover medical services provided on an emergency basis that are not covered services under the contract.

(4) The MCO shall not condition coverage for emergency services on the treating provider notifying the MCO of the enrollee's screening and treatment within 10 days after presentation for emergency services.

(5) The determination of the attending emergency physician, or the provider actually treating the enrollee, of whether an enrollee is sufficiently stabilized for discharge or transfer to another facility, shall be binding on the MCO. The MCO shall cover emergency services for all enrollees whether the emergency services are provided by an affiliated or non-affiliated provider.

(6) The MCO's financial responsibility for post-stabilization care services it has not pre-approved ends when:

(A) a plan physician with privileges at the treating hospital assumes responsibility for the enrollee's care;

(B) a plan physician assumes responsibility for the enrollee's care through transfer;

(C) a contracting entity representative and the treating physician reach an agreement concerning the enrollee's care; or

(D) the enrollee is discharged.

(f) Network adequacy and transparency.

(1) The Department shall:

(A) ensure that an adequate provider network is in place, taking into consideration health professional shortage areas and medically underserved areas;

(B) publicly release an explanation of its process for analyzing network adequacy;

(C) periodically ensure that an MCO continues to have an adequate network in place; and

(D) require MCOs, including Medicaid Managed Care Entities as defined in Section 5-30.2, to meet provider directory requirements under Section 5-30.3; and .

(E) require MCOs, including Medicaid Managed Care Entities as defined in Section 5-30.2, to meet each of the requirements under subsection (d-5) of Section 10 of the Network Adequacy and Transparency Act; with necessary exceptions to the MCO's network to ensure that admission and treatment with a provider or at a treatment facility in accordance with the network adequacy standards in paragraph (3) of subsection (d-5) of Section 10 of the Network Adequacy and Transparency Act is limited to providers or facilities that are Medicaid certified.

(2) Each MCO shall confirm its receipt of information submitted specific to physician or dentist additions or physician or dentist deletions from the MCO's provider network within 3 days after receiving all required information from contracted physicians or dentists, and electronic physician and dental directories must be updated consistent with current rules as published by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services or its successor agency.

(g) Timely payment of claims.

(1) The MCO shall pay a claim within 30 days of receiving a claim that contains all the essential information needed to adjudicate the claim.

(2) The MCO shall notify the billing party of its inability to adjudicate a claim within 30 days of receiving that claim.

(3) The MCO shall pay a penalty that is at least equal to the timely payment interest penalty imposed under Section 368a of the Illinois Insurance Code for any claims not timely paid.

(A) When an MCO is required to pay a timely payment interest penalty to a provider, the MCO must calculate and pay the timely payment interest penalty that is due to the provider within 30 days after the payment of the claim. In no event shall a provider be required to request or apply for payment of any owed timely payment interest penalties.

(B) Such payments shall be reported separately from the claim payment for services rendered to the MCO's enrollee and clearly identified as interest payments.

(4)(A) The Department shall require MCOs to expedite payments to providers identified on the Department's expedited provider list, determined in accordance with 89 Ill. Adm. Code 140.71(b), on a schedule at least as frequently as the providers are paid under the Department's fee-for-service expedited provider schedule.

(B) Compliance with the expedited provider requirement may be satisfied by an MCO through the use of a Periodic Interim Payment (PIP) program that has been mutually agreed to and documented between the MCO and the provider, and the PIP program ensures that any expedited provider receives regular and periodic payments based on prior period payment experience from that MCO. Total payments under the PIP program may be reconciled against future PIP payments on a schedule mutually agreed to between the MCO and the provider.

(C) The Department shall share at least monthly its expedited provider list and the frequency with which it pays providers on the expedited list.

(g-5) Recognizing that the rapid transformation of the Illinois Medicaid program may have unintended operational challenges for both payers and providers:

(1) in no instance shall a medically necessary covered service rendered in good faith, based upon eligibility information documented by the provider, be denied coverage or diminished in payment amount if the eligibility or coverage information available at the time the service was rendered is later found to be inaccurate in the assignment of coverage responsibility between MCOs or the fee-for-service system, except for instances when an individual is deemed to have not been eligible for coverage under the Illinois Medicaid program; and

(2) the Department shall, by December 31, 2016, adopt rules establishing policies that shall be included in the Medicaid managed care policy and procedures manual addressing payment resolutions in situations in which a provider renders services based upon information obtained after verifying a patient's eligibility and coverage plan through either the Department's current enrollment system or a system operated by the coverage plan identified by the patient presenting for services:

(A) such medically necessary covered services shall be considered rendered in good faith;

(B) such policies and procedures shall be developed in consultation with industry representatives of the Medicaid managed care health plans and representatives of provider associations representing the majority of providers within the identified provider industry; and

(C) such rules shall be published for a review and comment period of no less than 30 days on the Department's website with final rules remaining available on the Department's website.

The rules on payment resolutions shall include, but not be limited to:

(A) the extension of the timely filing period;

(B) retroactive prior authorizations; and

(C) guaranteed minimum payment rate of no less than the current, as of the date of service, fee-for-service rate, plus all applicable add-ons, when the resulting service relationship is out of network.

The rules shall be applicable for both MCO coverage and fee-for-service coverage.

If the fee-for-service system is ultimately determined to have been responsible for coverage on the date of service, the Department shall provide for an extended period for claims submission outside the standard timely filing requirements.

(g-6) MCO Performance Metrics Report.

(1) The Department shall publish, on at least a quarterly basis, each MCO's operational performance, including, but not limited to, the following categories of metrics:

(A) claims payment, including timeliness and accuracy;

(B) prior authorizations;

(C) grievance and appeals;

(D) utilization statistics;

(E) provider disputes;

(F) provider credentialing; and

(G) member and provider customer service.

(2) The Department shall ensure that the metrics report is accessible to providers online by January 1, 2017.

(3) The metrics shall be developed in consultation with industry representatives of the Medicaid managed care health plans and representatives of associations representing the majority of providers within the identified industry.

(4) Metrics shall be defined and incorporated into the applicable Managed Care Policy Manual issued by the Department.

(g-7) MCO claims processing and performance analysis. In order to monitor MCO payments to hospital providers, pursuant to this amendatory Act of the 100th General Assembly, the Department shall post an analysis of MCO claims processing and payment performance on its website every 6 months. Such analysis shall include a review and evaluation of a representative sample of hospital claims that are rejected and denied for clean and unclean claims and the top 5 reasons for such actions and timeliness of claims adjudication, which identifies the percentage of claims adjudicated within 30, 60, 90, and over 90 days, and the dollar amounts associated with those claims. The Department shall post the contracted claims report required by HealthChoice Illinois on its website every 3 months.

(g-8) Dispute resolution process. The Department shall maintain a provider complaint portal through which a provider can submit to the Department unresolved disputes with an MCO. An unresolved dispute means an MCO's decision that denies in whole or in part a claim for reimbursement to a provider for health care services rendered by the provider to an enrollee of the MCO with which the provider disagrees. Disputes shall not be submitted to the portal until the provider has availed itself of the MCO's internal dispute resolution process. Disputes that are submitted to the MCO internal dispute resolution process may be submitted to the Department of Healthcare and Family Services' complaint portal no sooner than 30 days after submitting to the MCO's internal process and not later than 30 days after the unsatisfactory resolution of the internal MCO process or 60 days after submitting the dispute to the MCO internal process. Multiple claim disputes involving the same MCO may be submitted in one complaint, regardless of whether the claims are for different enrollees, when the specific reason for non-payment of the claims involves a common question of fact or policy. Within 10 business days of receipt of a complaint, the Department shall present such disputes to the appropriate MCO, which shall then have 30 days to issue its written proposal to resolve the dispute. The Department may grant one 30-day extension of this time frame to one of the parties to resolve the dispute. If the dispute remains unresolved at the end of this time frame or the provider is not satisfied with the MCO's written proposal to resolve the dispute, the provider may, within 30 days, request the Department to review the dispute and make a final determination. Within 30 days of the request for Department review of the dispute, both the provider and the MCO shall present all relevant information to the Department for resolution and make individuals with knowledge of the issues available to the Department for further inquiry if needed. Within 30 days of receiving the relevant information on the dispute, or the lapse of the period for submitting such information, the Department shall issue a written decision on the dispute based on contractual terms between the provider and the MCO, contractual terms between the MCO and the Department of Healthcare and Family Services and applicable Medicaid policy. The decision of the Department shall be final. By January 1, 2020, the Department shall establish by rule further details of this dispute resolution process. Disputes between MCOs and providers presented to the Department for resolution are not contested cases, as defined in Section 1-30 of the Illinois Administrative Procedure Act, conferring any right to an administrative hearing.

(g-9)(1) The Department shall publish annually on its website a report on the calculation of each managed care organization's medical loss ratio showing the following:

(A) Premium revenue, with appropriate adjustments.

(B) Benefit expense, setting forth the aggregate amount spent for the following:

(i) Direct paid claims.

(ii) Subcapitation payments.

(iii) Other claim payments.

(iv) Direct reserves.

(v) Gross recoveries.

(vi) Expenses for activities that improve health care quality as allowed by the Department.

(2) The medical loss ratio shall be calculated consistent with federal law and regulation following a claims runout period determined by the Department.

(g-10)(1) "Liability effective date" means the date on which an MCO becomes responsible for payment for medically necessary and covered services rendered by a provider to one of its enrollees in accordance with the contract terms between the MCO and the provider. The liability effective date shall be the later of:

(A) The execution date of a network participation contract agreement.

(B) The date the provider or its representative submits to the MCO the complete and accurate standardized roster form for the provider in the format approved by the Department.

(C) The provider effective date contained within the Department's provider enrollment subsystem within the Illinois Medicaid Program Advanced Cloud Technology (IMPACT) System.

(2) The standardized roster form may be submitted to the MCO at the same time that the provider submits an enrollment application to the Department through IMPACT.

(3) By October 1, 2019, the Department shall require all MCOs to update their provider directory with information for new practitioners of existing contracted providers within 30 days of receipt of a complete and accurate standardized roster template in the format approved by the Department provided that the provider is effective in the Department's provider enrollment subsystem within the IMPACT system. Such provider directory shall be readily accessible for purposes of selecting an approved health care provider and comply with all other federal and State requirements.

(g-11) The Department shall work with relevant stakeholders on the development of operational guidelines to enhance and improve operational performance of Illinois' Medicaid managed care program, including, but not limited to, improving provider billing practices, reducing claim rejections and inappropriate payment denials, and standardizing processes, procedures, definitions, and response timelines, with the goal of reducing provider and MCO administrative burdens and conflict. The Department shall include a report on the progress of these program improvements and other topics in its Fiscal Year 2020 annual report to the General Assembly.

(h) The Department shall not expand mandatory MCO enrollment into new counties beyond those counties already designated by the Department as of June 1, 2014 for the individuals whose eligibility for medical assistance is not the seniors or people with disabilities population until the Department provides an opportunity for accountable care entities and MCOs to participate in such newly designated counties.

(i) The requirements of this Section apply to contracts with accountable care entities and MCOs entered into, amended, or renewed after June 16, 2014 (the effective date of Public Act 98-651).

(j) Health care information released to managed care organizations. A health care provider shall release to a Medicaid managed care organization, upon request, and subject to the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 and any other law applicable to the release of health information, the health care information of the MCO's enrollee, if the enrollee has completed and signed a general release form that grants to the health care provider permission to release the recipient's health care information to the recipient's insurance carrier.

(Source: P.A. 100-201, eff. 8-18-17; 100-580, eff. 3-12-18; 100-587, eff. 6-4-18; 101-209, eff. 8-5-19.)