Fall is in full swing and I’m trying to not let the Cardinals sweep last weekend ruin my mood. It’s going to be weird next year without Yadi and we may never see someone else hit 700 homeruns in our lifetimes.
Oh well, onto the corn mazes with my daughters. We’re getting to be experts; pretty wild for someone that can’t drive more than 20 miles without Google Maps.
House Insurance Committee Holds Hearing in Chicago
Representative Jones called a special insurance committee last Thursday in Chicago. While four things were on the agenda, it was a hearing on HB 4175 that was of interest to the Healthcare Council. For those of you that haven’t been tracking this bill, HB 4175 would mandate the creation of a state-based healthcare exchange.
It was a unique hearing to say the least. A panel of experts was announced to testify, including friend of the Chamber (and alum) Laura Minzer. Super lobbyist Michael Kasper was announced and immediately after he sat down and introduced his client- Get Insured, which operates state-based exchanges- the Chair announced Governor Pritzker preferred this topic be discussed in Springfield. According to Chairman Jones, a state-based exchange is important to the Governor and they’d like to conduct hearings during Veto in Springfield. He also stated it’d be nice to pass the bill during that time.
State based exchanges have been a mixed success nationally. Frankly, I can’t say I’d be extremely optimistic about Illinois’ ability to execute on this concept.
Annual Luncheon Thank You
The luncheon is one of our biggest fundraising events of the year. It enables us to do what we do at the capitol to support pro-business policies. A special thank you to all of you that sponsored and attended our annual luncheon last week at the Palmer House in Chicago. The luncheon is always a great opportunity for members of the Chamber to network with each other and hear from some tremendous speakers on relevant topics of the day. This year's attendees heard a great panel discussion on the future of energy as well as remarks from the Federal Reserve.
So, to each of you that supported our event- thank you. For everyone else, we hope to see you next year.
New Bills of Interest
HB 5817 (Zakewski) - Creates the Endow Illinois Tax Credit Act. Creates an income tax credit for taxpayers who provide an endowment gift to a permanent endowment fund. Provides that the amount of the credit is an amount equal to 50% of the endowment gift.
BIPA Healthcare Exemption Decided by Court
In Svoboda v. Frames for America, plaintiffs sued an eyeglasses maker over the use of their virtual try-on software. The federal court found that this activity was exempt under BIPA’s healthcare exemption. This was true for both prescription and non-prescription lenses as they protect vision.
I’m a big fan of this decision as I was saddened when my favorite sunglasses maker, Roka, disabled this very feature. I bought my first pair after a virtual try-on, and they look and fit exactly like what was depicted. They turned off the feature for my second pair, which I had to send back when my three-year-old told me I looked “’diculous.” Hopefully they turn this feature back on, my ego needs it.
Latest Round of Healthcare Transformation Collaboratives Announced Late Last Week; Over $70 million to Increase Access and Equity in Healthcare Statewide
The Illinois Department of Healthcare and Family Services has chosen six healthcare collaboratives for the State Fiscal Year 2023 cycle of the Healthcare Transformation Collaboratives program, which aims to close gaps in healthcare services and eliminate the barriers to access and inequities that persist in Illinois’ healthcare system.
The awardees chosen to be part of this round of funding submitted plans to HFS with missions that focus on improving maternal and child health on the south side of Chicago, and in western Cook County and east-central Illinois, reducing health disparities among older adults on the south side of Chicago and expanding behavioral health offerings for youth on the south and west sides of Chicago.
The program encourages healthcare providers to partner together to further these goals in their communities, creating collaboratives that can leverage their shared resources to create stronger and more innovative strategies for improving access, quality, and equity in the healthcare landscape than they could individually.
HFS received 40 applications from proposed collaboratives during this round, and has chosen the following entities to advance to the next phase, which will determine specific funding allocations for each project:
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Developmental and Behavioral Health Pediatric Center, lead entity: Saint Anthony Hospital Foundation. Expanding access to developmental health providers on the west and southwest sides of Chicago, including addressing the growing mental, emotional, and behavioral health needs of children and adolescents and providing a range of community services for families.
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Healthcare Transformation Collaborative of Chicago’s Far South Side Communities, lead entity: Roseland Community Hospital. Improving access to labor and delivery services, as well as mental health services, by making significant improvements to the hospital and partnering with local FQHCs and community-based mental health providers.
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South Side Health Equity Collaborative, lead entity: Insight Health. Committed to improving the health on the south side of Chicago by addressing maternal healthcare and behavioral health for youth impacted by trauma through a community-informed, data-driven and “racial equity first” approach. Innovative strategies of healthcare access and social conditions will address vulnerable communities that have been historically disinvested and disproportionately harmed by structural racism.
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Southside Center for Excellence in Older Adult Health and Wellness, lead entity: St. Bernard Hospital.A cross-provider collaborative to transform health outcomes and reduce disparities among older adults on the south side of Chicago by delivering “whole-person” care designed to increase provider capacity specifically for geriatric patients and meet the unique needs of an aging community that is medically underserved and disproportionally poor.
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West Cook Coalition, lead entity: Loyola University Medical Center. This collaborative will target the health inequities and poor health outcomes that exist in its service area, which includes 18 zip codes in western Cook County, by putting in place a care management model that aims to reach high-risk and rising risk Medicaid customers and uninsured adults.
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Vermilion County Community Health Collaborative, lead entity: Carle Foundation. A community-driven healthcare delivery system to improve chronic care outcomes and increase access to preventive, treatment, and specialty care services. These will include maternal and child health, behavioral health and substance use, food insecurity and other vital components.
The specific funding levels for each collaborative will be decided by HFS. The Department may be unable to fund all of the collaboratives at the total level of their request. In addition to these entities, HFS is still considering additional proposals in the Northern, Central and Southern Illinois regions for this Healthcare Transformation Collaboratives funding cycle. The Healthcare Transformation Collaboratives program invests a total of up to $150 million annually to the collaboratives HFS has chosen, which includes support from federal matching funds
Other Legislative Updates
As a reminder, the General Assembly has released the schedule for veto session. Lawmakers will be back in Springfield Tuesday, November 15 -November 17 as well as November 29-December 1.
View and download the veto calendar here.
Lawmakers have been informed to keep January 4-10 open on their calendars for possible lame duck session dates.
