Full Text of HR0343 102nd General Assembly
HR0343 102ND GENERAL ASSEMBLY |
| | HR0343 | | LRB102 18624 MST 26976 r |
|
| 1 | | HOUSE RESOLUTION
| 2 | | WHEREAS, Safety Net hospitals serve a disproportionate | 3 | | share of at-risk patients, who are frequently uninsured; | 4 | | Critical Access Hospitals serve a vital role for residents in | 5 | | rural communities who need access to emergency care; these | 6 | | facilities comprise approximately 5% of U.S. hospitals, but in | 7 | | 2017, they provided 17.4% of uncompensated care, totaling $6.7 | 8 | | billion, and 23% of charity care, which totaled $5.5 billion, | 9 | | up from 20% of all charity care and $5.5 billion in overall | 10 | | uncompensated care in 2016; and
| 11 | | WHEREAS, These facilities serve communities in which 22.3 | 12 | | million individuals live below the poverty line, 9.9 million | 13 | | struggle with food insecurity, and three-quarters are | 14 | | uninsured or covered by Medicaid or Medicare; and
| 15 | | WHEREAS, Illinois rapidly expanded Medicaid managed care | 16 | | over the past several years, moving from covering 10 percent | 17 | | of beneficiaries in parts of the State to two-thirds in every | 18 | | county (now 2.2 million beneficiaries); although the | 19 | | Department of Healthcare and Family Services (HFS) launched | 20 | | the program by its deadline of January 1, 2015, Medicaid | 21 | | managed care has failed to realize the promise of increased | 22 | | care coordination, improved patient outcomes, greater | 23 | | efficiencies, and cost savings; and |
| | | HR0343 | - 2 - | LRB102 18624 MST 26976 r |
|
| 1 | | WHEREAS, Hospitals continue to face an overwhelming range | 2 | | of challenges that undermine the program, including initial | 3 | | claim denial rates that remain high, long payment delays, and | 4 | | administrative burdens requiring substantial resources and | 5 | | clinical staff time to meet myriad authorization requirements | 6 | | imposed by Managed Care Organizations (MCOs); and | 7 | | WHEREAS, Claim denials and payment delays are putting | 8 | | extreme financial pressure on Safety Net and Critical Access | 9 | | hospitals, which jeopardizes access to care for low-income and | 10 | | vulnerable communities in urban and rural Illinois; and
| 11 | | WHEREAS, The COVID-19 public health crisis has highlighted | 12 | | health disparities; African American, Hispanic American, and | 13 | | Asian American individuals have substantially higher rates of | 14 | | infection, hospitalization, and death compared with White | 15 | | people; and
| 16 | | WHEREAS, The Illinois General Assembly has taken steps to | 17 | | support Safety Net and Critical Access hospitals, including | 18 | | encouraging coordination between Federally Qualified Health | 19 | | Centers (FQHCs) and Safety Net hospitals with the goal of | 20 | | increasing care coordination, managing chronic diseases, and | 21 | | addressing the social determinants of health, permitting | 22 | | Health Facilities and Services Review Board (HFSRB) to defer |
| | | HR0343 | - 3 - | LRB102 18624 MST 26976 r |
|
| 1 | | any pending application to close a hospital for up to 60 days | 2 | | from enactment and authorizing a new Hospital Transformation | 3 | | Program that invests in systemic health care transformation to | 4 | | build a more integrated and coordinated system of care; and
| 5 | | WHEREAS, There is still much to do to ensure our Safety Net | 6 | | and Critical Access Hospitals receive the support they need to | 7 | | serve our communities; therefore, be it
| 8 | | RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE ONE | 9 | | HUNDRED SECOND GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that | 10 | | we will work to ensure that every underserved and | 11 | | under-resourced community hospital receives the support it | 12 | | needs; and be it further
| 13 | | RESOLVED, That the General Assembly is urged to work with | 14 | | Safety Net and Critical Access hospitals to determine how best | 15 | | they can be served; and be it further | 16 | | RESOLVED, That suitable copies of this resolution be | 17 | | delivered to all members of the Illinois General Assembly and | 18 | | the Governor's Office.
|
|