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1 | HOUSE RESOLUTION
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2 | WHEREAS, The Department of Healthcare and Family Services | ||||||
3 | (HFS) currently operates an extremely valuable, productive | ||||||
4 | Datawarehouse, providing the agency with unmatched capability | ||||||
5 | and reliability in understanding its various Medicaid | ||||||
6 | programs; and
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7 | WHEREAS, This comprehensive understanding of the program | ||||||
8 | has allowed the agency to implement program efficiencies worth | ||||||
9 | hundreds of millions of dollars; and | ||||||
10 | WHEREAS, Segments of Medicaid as well as other | ||||||
11 | State-operated healthcare programs providing essential | ||||||
12 | benefits to thousands of Illinois citizens and that are, | ||||||
13 | ideally, designed to be interdependent with Medicaid, reside at | ||||||
14 | other State agencies and, unfortunately, operate in almost | ||||||
15 | complete isolation, consequently producing sub-optimal | ||||||
16 | healthcare outcomes for the most chronically ill of Illinois | ||||||
17 | citizens; and | ||||||
18 | WHEREAS, Given the current fiscal climate, it is absolutely | ||||||
19 | critical that scarce State dollars be invested as wisely as | ||||||
20 | possible so as to produce optimal health outcomes for Illinois | ||||||
21 | citizens; and | ||||||
22 | WHEREAS, Comprehensive information exchange among State | ||||||
23 | agencies allows for better management, leading to better health | ||||||
24 | outcomes and more efficient use of State resources; and | ||||||
25 | WHEREAS, To cite a significant example, of the 75,000 | ||||||
26 | annual Medicaid births, fully 1/3, that is 25,000, are deemed | ||||||
27 | non-normal; and | ||||||
28 | WHEREAS, These 25,000 non-normal births, aside from the | ||||||
29 | onerous toll extracted on the child, cost the State over $200 |
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1 | million annually; and | ||||||
2 | WHEREAS, In this day and age, it is completely unacceptable | ||||||
3 | that 25,000 babies each and every year are subjected to this | ||||||
4 | misery and distress when we already have at our disposal the | ||||||
5 | tools that, properly utilized, would alleviate this tragedy; | ||||||
6 | and | ||||||
7 | WHEREAS, Integrating the currently isolated Women, Infants | ||||||
8 | and Children data residing exclusively at the Department of | ||||||
9 | Human Services (DHS) into the Datawarehouse would allow the | ||||||
10 | State to identify and proactively assist these most-at-risk | ||||||
11 | pregnant women; and | ||||||
12 | WHEREAS, Such proactive data management, coupled with | ||||||
13 | targeted outreach efforts, may halve the number of non-normal | ||||||
14 | births, thus saving $100 million; and
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15 | WHEREAS, There are dozens of additional examples of | ||||||
16 | currently isolated programs that, if incorporated into the | ||||||
17 | Datawarehouse, would dramatically improve Illinoisan health | ||||||
18 | outcomes while preserving millions of scarce State dollars; and
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19 | WHEREAS, The original vision - and the most logical end - | ||||||
20 | for the Datawarehouse is that of a comprehensive repository | ||||||
21 | allowing for one-stop service, thereby facilitating the most | ||||||
22 | effective and cost-efficient manner of providing healthcare to | ||||||
23 | our clients; and
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24 | WHEREAS, Such an expansion would predominantly be funded by | ||||||
25 | the federal government; and
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26 | WHEREAS, Public Act 94-0267, effective July 19, 2005, | ||||||
27 | mandated an expansion of the Datawarehouse to encompass all | ||||||
28 | other isolated healthcare data sources at DHS and the | ||||||
29 | Department of Public Health, and yet, perplexingly, absolutely |
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1 | no movement has been made toward this end; therefore, be it
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2 | RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE | ||||||
3 | NINETY-FOURTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that | ||||||
4 | owing it to Illinois taxpayers and, most importantly, to the | ||||||
5 | very individuals who rely heavily on all of us in State | ||||||
6 | government, the Department of Healthcare and Family Services | ||||||
7 | shall immediately expand the superlative Datawarehouse, | ||||||
8 | incorporating currently isolated healthcare data residing at | ||||||
9 | other State agencies, so as to effectuate significantly | ||||||
10 | improved health outcomes for the neediest of our citizens; and | ||||||
11 | be it further
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12 | RESOLVED, That suitable copies of this resolution be | ||||||
13 | forwarded to the Director of Healthcare and Family Services and | ||||||
14 | to the Governor.
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