{"id":2253155,"date":"2024-05-26T09:53:01","date_gmt":"2024-05-26T13:53:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/pritzkers-health-insurance-overhauls-cross-finish-line\/"},"modified":"2024-05-26T10:48:51","modified_gmt":"2024-05-26T14:48:51","slug":"pritzkers-health-insurance-overhauls-cross-finish-line","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/pritzkers-health-insurance-overhauls-cross-finish-line\/","title":{"rendered":"Pritzker&#8217;s Health Insurance Reforms successfully completed"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"float:left\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">12<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fpritzkers-health-insurance-overhauls-cross-finish-line%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2253155&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>The Illinois General Assembly passed two bills \u2063reshaping state-regulated health insurance plans\u2062 in Illinois. One bill, \u200bthe Health \u200cCare Protection Act (House\u200d Bill 2499), targets \u200dthe elimination of &#8220;deceptive&#8221; short-term limited duration insurance plans. Governor J.B. Pritzker is expected to sign the\u200c legislation, which includes reforms like banning step therapy \u200band junk\u200c insurance plans, aiming to enhance patient protection and\u200b accessibility to healthcare.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<div>\n<p>(The Center Square) \u2013 Two bills that will drastically change health insurance plans regulated by state government cleared the Illinois General Assembly Saturday.<\/p>\n<p>Democrats and Gov. J.B. Pritzker have been pushing for the elimination of what they call \u201cdeceptive\u201d short\u2010\u200bterm limited duration insurance plans. House Bill 2499, dubbed the Health Care Protection Act, eliminates those plans.<\/p>\n<p>The measure passed both the House and Senate and heads to the governor\u2019s desk for his expected signature.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis legislation will protect patients through an array of targeted reforms: banning step therapy, banning prior authorization for crisis mental healthcare, banning junk insurance plans, and ending unchecked rate increases for large group insurance companies,\u201d Pritzker said in a news release Saturday. \u201cWe\u2019re saving lives and making the path to care easier for all.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>In committee, state Sen. Chapin Rose, R-Mahomet, questioned Ann Gillespie, acting director of the Illinois Department of Insurance, about the so-called deceptive plans.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIf it\u2019s actually deceptive then they should be dealt with under the Deceptive Practices Act, which already exists,\u201d Rose said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cTo your point, we believe them to be deceptive and this is the approach we\u2019re taking rather than doing it on a case by case basis,\u201d Gillespie said.<\/p>\n<p>Gillespie said the IDOI can only do so much when the business model STLDs use is legal.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe business model by its very nature is deceptive. As long as it\u2019s legal there\u2019s very little the department can do and that\u2019s why we\u2019re offering this approach,\u201d Gillespie said.<\/p>\n<p>State Sen. Dave Syverson, R-Cherry Valley, said the department approves the brochures insurance companies give to consumers and asked why the department couldn\u2019t just regulate the STDL plans that way. Gillespie said there\u2019s only so much they can do if the business model is legal.<\/p>\n<p>The department testified at the hearing that Affordable Care Act marketplace plans are eligible for federal subsidies to bring down the cost to the consumer.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cACA plans can be cheaper than STLDs and sometimes as low as one dollar per month,\u201d said Joanna Coll, IDOI counsel.<\/p>\n<p>Syverson said his constituents who are enrolled in ACA plans tell him that they may pay a dollar per month for the ACA plans but at the end of the year, if their income is higher than at the time they enrolled they\u2019ll have to pay thousands of dollars come tax time.<\/p>\n<p>Coll said there\u2019s a limit on how much can be charged back for everyone under 400% of the federal poverty level.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAnybody who would be having their tax amount adjusted at the end of the year upon having insurance \u2026 through an employer after a brief period of having an ACA plan, they would be the only ones really having a larger financial impact,\u201d said Coll.<\/p>\n<p>Syverson said if the STLD plans are eliminated then people are left with COBRA plans, which is about $3,000 a month for the average family, or they can get a small-network, high deductible, high co-pay ACA plan that will lower their costs for a couple months but at the end of the year they\u2019ll have to pay the government all that money back.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe\u2019re limiting people to have very few choices,\u201d said Syverson.<\/p>\n<p>Echoing Syverson on the House floor Saturday, state Rep. Jeff Keicher, R-Sycamore, said short term plans should be an integral choice for those in the marketplace.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhen it is most needed, this is the most affordable platform that\u2019s out there,\u201d said Keicher.<\/p>\n<p>State Rep. Bob Morgan, D-Deerfield, sponsored the bill in the House and said it will help consumers who have been scammed by predatory plans.<\/p>\n<p>Also headed to the governor\u2019s desk is House Bill 5395, another Pritzker initiative that cleared both chambers Saturday. Gillespie fielded questions from lawmakers in a Senate committee hearing about the bill earlier in the week.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAn individual\u2019s physician makes the recommendation [of treatment] and as long as that\u2019s compliant with generally accepted medical standards the insurance company has to cover it,\u201d said Gillespie.<\/p>\n<p>Republicans were concerned getting rid of step therapy was going to increase costs of insurance premiums for consumers.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhen we\u2019ve passed these mandates, they apply to the state employees\u2019 health care plan and we\u2019ve said there\u2019s not much cost. Obviously this year when COGFA did their report, we saw the state\u2019s insurance plan go up $463 million. Now this doesn\u2019t affect state employees because they\u2019re under contract. But small employers [their employees] are having to pay $3,000 a month. Affordability is becoming a huge problem,\u201d said Syverson.<\/p>\n<p>The bill also seeks to give authority to the IDOI to get insurance companies, who\u2019s rates the IDOI doesn\u2019t agree with, to stop selling insurance at that rate.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAt this time the department can look at it [the rate calculation] and say, \u2018Hey that\u2019s not actuarially sound.\u2019 Then the company has to put it on their website [that the IDOI found it not actuarially sound],\u201d said an IDOI official.<\/p>\n<p>The company only has to publish the IDOI findings that the rate is unsound if the company refuses to change it to a recommended rate.<\/p>\n<p>Syverson discovered that the department has found only one case where an insurance company set a rate that wasn\u2019t considered actuarially sound and refused to change the rate to IDOI\u2019s recommended rate.<\/p>\n<p>After the bill\u2019s passage Saturday, the Illinois Life &#038; Health Insurance Council applauded what they said was progress, but raised concerns.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe hope to make more progress during the implementation phase,\u201d said Laura Minzer, president of the ILHIC. \u201cWhat the ongoing discussions in the House and Senate have amplified is the indispensable role insurance companies play in the affordability of health care. It is not an exaggeration to say that insurance companies make health care possible.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>ILHIC said they caution that banning the use of step therapy and restricting the use of prior authorization limits tools insurance companies have to control costs.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThese changes could lead to an increase in health insurance premiums as the cost of medical care continues to outpace cost increases for other goods and services,\u201d the group said.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Illinois General Assembly passed two bills reshaping state-regulated health insurance plans. Democrats, alongside Gov. J.B. Pritzker, advocate for the removal of &#8220;deceptive&#8221; short-term limited duration insurance plans. House Bill 2499, known as the Health Care Protection Act, spearheads the elimination process<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2253156,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/AP23313680327548.jpg.optimal.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2253155","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/AP23313680327548.jpg.optimal.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2253155","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2253155"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2253155\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2253156"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2253155"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2253155"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2253155"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}