Illinois Hospital Association

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Update: September 23, 2008

Legislature Overrides Governor's Veto of  Uninsured Discount Act

The Illinois House late this morning voted 97-0 to override the Governor's amendatory veto of Senate Bill 2380, the Hospital Uninsured Patient Discount Act. Yesterday afternoon, the Senate voted 55-0 to override the Governor's amendatory veto, which would have imposed several drastic and harmful changes to the original bill.

With the General Assembly's successful override action, the original bill -- as developed by IHA and the Attorney General's Office along with several key legislators -- now becomes law (PA95-0965).

Hospital obligations under this new law begin on April 1, 2009. An IHA summary of the new law can be seen by clicking here and the text of the law can be seen by clicking here. 

Members are encouraged to thank their legislators for voting for the override. To see the Senate and House roll call votes on the successful override motion, click here.


August 27, 2008

Governor Changes Uninsured Discount Bill - Urge Your Legislators to Override Governor

Late Tuesday afternoon, Governor Blagojevich made major changes to Senate Bill 2380, the Hospital Uninsured Patient Discount Act, which was supported by IHA and the Attorney General’s Office as a workable and reasonable way for hospitals to help the uninsured get the care they need. These changes that would do unprecedented harm to hospitals and the communities they serve by putting many hospitals in potential financial jeopardy. His rewriting of the bill through an amendatory veto is outrageous, and we believe it circumvents the state constitution. We intend to ask the General Assembly to override his veto.

ACTION REQUESTED: Contact your state senators and representatives and urge them to override the Governor’s amendatory veto of Senate Bill 2380 when they return to Springfield (possibly in September). To override the veto requires a three-fifths vote in both the Senate and House. To send an email or letter to your legislators, click here.

Background:

The Governor’s amendatory veto made several substantial changes to SB2380 including:

  • Increasing the family income eligibility level to 800% of the federal poverty level (FPL) in urban areas and to 600% of FPL at Critical Access Hospitals and in rural areas (original bill was 600% and 300% respectively) [for a family of four, 800% FPL is $169,600; 600% FPL is $127,200];
  • Mandating hospital discounts to the uninsured to 120% of cost for uninsured patients with family incomes above 200% of FPL and to cost for uninsured patients with incomes at or below 200% of FPL (original bill was 135% of cost);
  • Inserting a new provision requiring hospitals to provide 50% discounts on any out-of-pocket costs (co-pay, co-insurance or deductible) for ALL insured children who are admitted to hospitals with any diagnosis related to juvenile diabetes. This would make Illinois the first state in the country to require hospitals to cover a substantial portion of a patient’s personal cost-sharing responsibility for a specific illness;
  • Eliminating a patient’s obligation to notify a hospital that he/she previously received a discount in order to be eligible for the out-of-pocket maximum of only having to pay 25% of the family’s income in a 12-month period for the hospital’s bill (original bill required patient to notify hospitals of prior discounts at subsequent admissions);
  • Extending the deadline for patients to apply for discounts to 120 days (original bill was 60 days);
  • Shifting oversight and enforcement of the law to the Illinois Dept. of Public Health (from the Attorney General’s Office);
  • To override the Governor’s veto and reject his changes to SB2380 requires a three-fifths vote in both the Senate and House – but the General Assembly can accept the Governor’s changes to the bill on a simple majority vote.
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    Suggested Talking Points:
  • I urge you to override the Governor’s amendatory veto of Senate Bill 2380;
  • The Governor’s amendatory veto of Senate Bill 2380 is outrageous and circumvents the state constitution, which does not allow major rewriting of legislation by the executive branch;
  • The hospital community worked in good faith with the Attorney General’s Office, legislators and others over many months to develop a reasonable and workable approach to help the uninsured;
  • The Governor arbitrarily changed the bill to impose extreme and unworkable changes that will have devastating effects on hospitals all across the state;
  • The Governor is also inappropriately shifting the oversight and enforcement of the law to an agency (Illinois Dept. of Public Health) not responsible for nor equipped to handle such matters;
  • Under the new income eligibility levels imposed by the Governor – nearly $170,000 for a family of four in urban areas, and more than $125,000 in rural areas – the vast majority of people in urban areas and virtually everyone in rural communities would qualify for discounts, jeopardizing the financial survival of hospitals all across the state;
  • The median household income in Illinois is $54,124 (U.S. Census Bureau report released on Aug. 26, 2008);
  • The Governor’s changes to SB2380 will likely encourage more people to use hospital emergency rooms for their primary health care. These changes will increase the burden on already overcrowded hospital emergency rooms for primary care;
  • By inserting a new requirement that hospitals provide 50% discounts on any out-of-pocket costs for ALL insured children who are admitted to hospitals with any diagnosis related to juvenile diabetes, Illinois would become the first state in the nation to require hospitals to cover a substantial portion of a patient’s personal cost-sharing responsibility for a specific illness. Why diabetes? What other conditions might this precedent lead to?
  • The Governor’s action on SB2380 jeopardizes the financial viability of hospitals when they are already attempting to manage the $350 million Medicaid funding cut that the Governor imposed in the state budget – at a time when hospitals are receiving substantially less than cost from the Medicaid program (about 65% of cost without the assessment program) – and when they are waiting six months or longer to be paid by the program;
  • I respectfully urge you to override the Governor’s amendatory veto of Senate Bill 2380.
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