Bellock: Medicaid Reforms Will Produce Efficiency, Cost Savings

Over the last three years, State Rep. Patti Bellock (R-Hinsdale) has focused on reforming the state’s Medicaid system.

“Medicaid is one of the fastest growing segments of Illinois’ budget and cannot be sustained without reforms,” Bellock said in a prepared statement. “In order to ensure we have resources available to care for our most vulnerable population we implemented more than a billion dollars in efficiencies and cost-saving measures.”

In the last General Assembly, checks and balances were added including a recapture audit of payments. Bellock noted that to maximize the dollars recaptured, the audit needs to be fully implemented by the administration.

In May, the House passed Senate Bill 1802 which changes the FamilyCare eligibility to 133 percent of the federal poverty level beginning in 2014. The state will also be transitioning patients to coordinated/managed care by 2015. Bellock stressed these are significant reforms, but again to realize maximum benefit the state needs to expedite the effective dates.

“The state has started the process of moving toward a tightly monitored and cost efficient Medicaid system, but we are not done. House Republicans will continue to push for more reforms that are program saving and also produce cost savings,” said Bellock. 

Additional House Republican Medicaid reform proposals include:

• Combining of state, university and local government drug purchasing, which allows for the negotiation of lower drug prices,
• Ending funding for the General Assistance medical program in Cook County. All other townships pay for this program on their own, and
• Updating AllKids Premium structure to reflect current costs.

“Thanks to months of hard work by our Medicaid working group, we have passed truly significant reforms that will preserve critical services while protecting taxpayer dollars. This was no easy task,” Bellock said. “I look forward to implementing even more of our ideas.”