PEORIA, Ill. – Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker was joined by state lawmakers and OSF Healthcare leaders in Peoria on Monday to urge passage of one of his health care initiatives.
The State House last week passed the Healthcare Protection Act, HB 5395, by a 81-25 bipartisan vote. It now waits for approval in the State Senate.
Pritzker says the bill will make quality care easier to access for patients in Illinois, and make insurance companies more accountable.
“For far too long, insurance companies, not doctors, have been free to determine what treatment options patients should have, and how quickly they should receive it,” Pritzker said. “With this bill, we’re putting power back in the hands of patients and their doctors.”
Measures in the bill include banning “step therapy,” where insurance companies require lower-cost drugs to be used before preferred ones prescribed by doctors. It also requires insurers to use “generally accepted standards of care” when determining what doctor-recommended treatments are covered. It bans the sale of short-term, limited duration insurance policies that do not meet the minimum standards of the Affordable Care Act.
The bill would also prohibit requiring pre-authorization before covering in-patient psychiatric treatment, something that OSF Vice-President of Patient Access and Mid Revenue Cycle Nicole Robinson says can affect the care a patient receives.
“Providers are often put in the difficult, and uncomfortable, position of having a conversation with a patient, telling them that the treatment they know is necessary must be delayed, due to this burdensome pre-authorization process,” Robinson said.
State Rep. Ryan Spain (R-Peoria) says the bill is one that should receive bipartisan support in the Senate, after receiving it in the House. He says the measure can not only improve the delivery system of receiving care, but can also help Peoria by attracting talent to the medical fields and retaining people in the city.
The bill’s sponsor in the State Senate, Rob Peters (D-Chicago), says there is no time frame yet on when debate and a vote on the Act would take place.
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