Metro East Sun

Prior to being passed by the House, a health care bill drew some attention from state Rep. Ryan Spain (R-Peoria).

Spain remembered HB158, the Illinois Health Care and Human Service Reform Act, filed by state Rep. Camille Y. Lilly (D-Chcago), from the lame duck session in January and asked if several provisions were still included in the amendments.

“This is substantially similar to the legislation that you introduced and carried in January, but there are changes as well,” he continued. “(The) previous bill ended the managed care assessment that we use to fund a great amount of healthcare spending in Illinois. Is it still terminated in this legislation?”

The Daily Herald reported that provisions that would have superseded Illinois’ Medicaid managed care program with a standard fee-for-service payment system have been eliminated.

The latest amendment of the bill no longer contains the text “This Act shall achieve needed change through the use of, but not limited to, the Medicaid Managed Care Oversight Commission, the Health and Human Services Task Force, and a hospital closure moratorium, in order to address Illinois' long-standing health inequities,” found in the previous copy of the bill when it was first introduced by Lilly in January.

Knowing how the bill would benefit Illinoisans in terms of health care, Spain thanked Lilly “for bringing forward this important legislation.”