Capitol Insider
With
the legislature on Spring Break this week, Capitol
Insider will recap the successes Health Care Council of Illinois (HCCI) had
last week in moving the long-term care agenda forward. We also want to take
this opportunity to encourage all our members to reach out to their respective
legislators while they are in their home districts. Let them know how important
it is to you and the residents you serve that they include the third year of
funding for the MDS in this years budget, as well as provide additional monies
to bring cost reports up to the 2004 level. As noted in previous additions of
Capitol Insider, our budgetary ask this year includes these two components:
¨
$84 million to
fund the third year of the MDS Reimbursement Implementation Plan
¨
$14 million to
fully fund last years update to the 2004 cost report levels
To
recap, last week marked the deadline for moving legislation from its chamber of
origin. Any legislation that did not receive a full vote in its original
chamber or a deadline extension was essentially dead; each HCCI initiative
either received a full vote or was granted a deadline extension.
As
noted last week, our three substantial legislative initiatives all received a
full vote in the chambers in which they started.
¨ SB2403 , sponsored by Senator Iris Martinez (D-Chicago), was heard
for a full vote. This bill, our number
one substantive initiative, directs the Department of HealthCare and Family
Services to update the cost reports for long-term care facilities every other
year, using the last available data. The
bill received a unanimous vote of 54 0 0.
¨ SB2506, sponsored by Senator Dan Kotowski (D-Park Ridge), provides
that the Department of Public Health may use penalty monies assessed against
facilities to correct those problems which prompted the penalty being levied.
This legislation received unanimous support on the floor, and had a vote of 54
0 0.
¨
HB5580, sponsored by Representative John Bradley (D-Marion), provides that the Department of Public Health may develop a
program to collaborate with long-term care facilities on quality assurance issues.
This bill enjoyed a unanimous vote of 114 0 - 0.
Health
Care Council of
¨ SB2199 Senator William Delgado (D-Chicago) Older Adult
Services Act Planning
This planning bill was moved to the House two weeks ago.
¨ SB2428 Senator Ira Silverstein (D-Chicago) Code of Civil
Procedure, Obsrtuction of Service
This bill
was moved to the House on a unanimous roll call and is expected to move through
the process easily.
¨ SB2531 Senator Iris Martinez (D-Chicago) MDS Implementation Reporting
This bill
was moved to the House on a unanimous roll call and is expected to move through
the process easily.
¨ HB5092 Representative Tom Holbrook (D-Belleville) Health
Facilities Planning Act
This bill is still on 3rd
¨ HB5226 Representative Lou Lang (D-Chicago) Nursing Home
Resident Exploitation
This legislation was moved to the Senate two weeks ago and is
expected to move when the Legislature returns from break.
¨ HB5308 Representative Robert Rita (
This bill is still on 3rd
¨ HB5318 Representative Kevin Joyce (D-Worth) Health Care
Background Check
This bill was moved to the Senate on a unanimous roll call
and is expected to move through the process easily.
While
we are encouraged by these successes, we are only halfway through the process.
We do expect that each piece of legislation will be looked upon favorably in
its next chamber, and we are on track to pass each one from the legislature.
You
may access the full text of each initiative by clicking on the bill number
listed above.
If you have
any questions or comments about legislative matters, please direct them to