February 2019

Do you remember when the ACA Marketplace opened in 2013, and the whole thing was so complicated that special roles like “navigators” and in-person counselors, aka IPCs, had to be created to help people enroll? Even though few assisters remain due to significant funding cuts from the federal government, people still need help with healthcare choices, especially in our Medicaid program.

Most people have access to expert help figuring out their healthcare choices. With an employer, you have an HR person or representative to help you sort through your healthcare choices. On the private market, you have brokers and agents. In Medicare, you have Senior Health Insurance Program counselors and brokers. Granted, all those systems have their shortfalls, but the common thread is that there is a person you can reach for help. 

Not so for Medicaid recipients – the people likely to need it the most. They have a number to call, but no one to meet with (except maybe an untrained person who is trying to help), and limited information about the plans they’re choosing. Medicaid managed care involves making choices – and the choice is inherently confusing. Which plan offers high-quality services, your primary care physician, two specialists, particular medications, and hospitals near your home? It might be none. What’s the next best choice then? [...] Read more



Ngozi Ezike, MD, a pediatrician currently serving as medical director at the Cook County's juvenile detention center, the largest such facility in the country, will be the new director of the Illinois Department of Public Health. Having served for more than 15 years at Cook County Health, Dr. Ezike is a national policy advisor on juvenile correctional health topics. Also an assistant professor of pediatrics at Rush University, she earned her medical degree from University of California San Diego and holds a management certificate from Harvard Business School. 

Jaime E. Martinez, JD, 26-year Army combat veteran and former paratrooper with the 82nd Airborne Division, will direct the Department of Veterans’ Affairs (IDVA). Currently executive director of Illinois Joining Forces, a statewide nonprofit and public-private partnership that brings services and support to veterans at the community level, Martinez was deployed to Panama, the Gulf War, Iraq, and Afghanistan and was asa policy advisor to Secretary of Defense and other high national assignments. After his medical retirement from the Fort Belvoir Wounded Warrior Battalion in 2010, he served as a staff attorney for veteran legal aid clinics and general counsel to the IDVA. A distinguished graduate of the Marine Corps Command and Staff College, he earned his legal degree and a Master's in Law and Economics from the George Mason School of Law.

Both of these appointments by Gov. Pritzker require state senate confirmation.



The Marketing and Outreach Restoration to Empower (MORE) Health Education Act ( H.R. 987), introduced February 6 by Rep. Lisa Blunt Rochester of Delaware, would restore funding for ACA Marketplace outreach and marketing, which the Trump administration cut by 90%. The act also calls for outreach and educational activities to be provided in a manner that is culturally and linguistically appropriate to the needs of the populations being served, "including hard-to-reach populations, such as racial and sexual minorities, limited English proficient populations, and young adults."

On January 24, President Trump signed the Medicaid Extenders Act ( H.R. 259), providing three months of funding for Medicaid’s Money Follows the Person program, which states have until September 31, 2019, to spend. Also signed: the TANF Extension Act of 2019 ( H.R. 430), which extends Temporary Assistance for Needy Families, child care Entitlements, and other Health and Human Services grant programs.