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1 | AN ACT concerning health care.
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2 | Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
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3 | represented in the General Assembly:
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4 | Section 1. Short title. This Act may be cited as the Health | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
5 | Care
Justice Act.
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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
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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
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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
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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.
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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.
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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:
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1 | (1) provides access to a full range of preventive, | ||||||
2 | acute, and
long-term health care services;
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3 | (2) maintains and improves the quality of health care | ||||||
4 | services offered
to Illinois residents;
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5 | (3) provides portability of coverage, regardless of | ||||||
6 | employment status;
| ||||||
7 | (4) provides core benefits for all Illinois residents;
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8 | (5) encourages regional and local consumer | ||||||
9 | participation;
| ||||||
10 | (6) contains cost-containment measures;
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11 | (7) provides a mechanism for reviewing and | ||||||
12 | implementing multiple
approaches to preventive medicine | ||||||
13 | based on new technologies; and
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14 | (8) promotes affordable coverage options for the small | ||||||
15 | business market.
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16 | Section 20. Adequate Health Care Task Force.
There is | ||||||
17 | created an Adequate Health Care Task Force. The Task Force
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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
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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,
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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,
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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.
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9 | Section 25. Public hearings.
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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
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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
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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
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34 | independent research entity experienced in assessing health | ||||||
35 | care reforms,
health care financing, and health care delivery |
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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.
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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;
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21 | (3) core benefits that would be provided under each | ||||||
22 | type of plan;
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23 | (4) reimbursement mechanisms for health care | ||||||
24 | providers;
| ||||||
25 | (5) administrative efficiencies;
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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;
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34 | (8) appropriate reallocation of existing health care | ||||||
35 | resources;
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1 | (9) equitable financing of each proposal; and
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2 | (10) recommendations concerning the delivery of | ||||||
3 | long-term care services,
including:
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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;
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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.
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19 | Section 35. Further legislative action.
No later than | ||||||
20 | December 31, 2006, the General Assembly shall vote on
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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.
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24 | Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect on July | ||||||
25 | 1, 2004.
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