[ Search ] [ Legislation ] [ Bill Summary ]
[ Home ] [ Back ] [ Bottom ]
90_SR0020
LRB9002974KBkb
1 SENATE RESOLUTION
2 WHEREAS, over 170,000 Medicaid beneficiaries are
3 currently enrolled in Health Maintenance Organizations in
4 Cook County, and the number of enrollees has grown and
5 continues to grow rapidly; and
6 WHEREAS, The number of Health Maintenance Organizations
7 competing for Medicaid enrollees in a finite market is also
8 increasing, thus intensifying competition; and
9 WHEREAS, Illinois is currently waiting for approval from
10 the federal government to expand its managed care program
11 statewide, and to enroll up to 1.1 million Medicaid
12 beneficiaries in some form of managed care; and
13 WHEREAS, The Chicago Sun-Times reported, on Thursday, May
14 9, 1996, that local health advocates have warned that
15 marketing representatives employed by certain HMOs in the
16 Chicago area may be using unscrupulous marketing tactics to
17 pressure Medicaid recipients into unknowingly joining managed
18 care plans; and
19 WHEREAS, The Chicago Sun-Times and Chicago Tribune have
20 reported that managed health care organizations are using
21 unannounced, unsupervised "door-to-door" visits in order to
22 encourage Medicaid enrollees to elect membership in their
23 organizations; and
24 WHEREAS, Several states, including Florida, New York, New
25 Jersey, Virginia, Pennsylvania, and Iowa have banned
26 "door-to-door" marketing in order to protect Medicaid
27 beneficiaries from inappropriate marketing practices; and
28 WHEREAS, By January 1997, only Illinois permits
29 "door-to-door" marketing; and
30 WHEREAS, The Department of Public Aid will not adopt
-2- LRB9002974KBkb
1 rules to prohibit "door-to-door" marketing by HMOs until May
2 31, 1997; therefore be it
3 RESOLVED, BY THE SENATE OF THE NINETIETH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
4 OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we respectfully urge the
5 Director of the Department of Public Aid to adopt rules to
6 immediately prohibit "door-to-door" marketing to Medicaid
7 beneficiaries by managed health care organizations, in all
8 current and future Medicaid managed care programs, regardless
9 of geographic location, client category of eligibility, or
10 organization ownership or control; and be it further
11 RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be
12 presented to the Director of the Department of Public Aid.