Latest news with #BillHauter
Yahoo
10-03-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Broad coalition lays out impacts of potential cuts to medicaid
SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (NEXSTAR) — Three million people are enrolled in Medicaid in Illinois, and their coverage could be impacted if congress decides to make cuts. 'We've got to keep this program going, not just for our seniors, as we've got people with disability, we've got the children, we've got the young families, and it's a lot of them,' House Republicans in Washington D.C. passed a resolution that asked certain federal agencies to cut $880 billion dollars in spending over the next 10 years. The resolution does not explicitly mention Medicaid. Experts say that number can't be reached without cutting the state based health insurance plan for the elderly, children and those with disabilities. 'I think that the fact that it's such a large amount, $880 billion over ten years, there's no way they can cut that much out of the federal budget without touching Medicaid,' Rep. Anna Moeller (D-Elgin) said. Lawmakers in Springfield held a hearing to highlight the impacts these cuts could have, but little can be done at the state level to curb the hit, which led republicans to question the motivations of the hearing. 'I think, this is performative. We don't know what will happen. There's a lot of things that we have no control over budget negotiations going on at the national level,' Rep. Bill Hauter (R-Morton) said. It wasn't just politicians speaking though. Hospital executives warned that this could lead to closures. That would lead to less reimbursement to hospitals when we're already not being paid the full cost of care,' Executive Director of the Illinois Hospital Association A.J. Wilhelmi said. Health insurance companies showed up to say cuts to Medicaid could result in private health insurance costs going up. they said less people on the state sponsored plans means more people on subsidized private plans, and the subsidies come from people paying those premiums. Basically you create more costs into the system and all kind of things are financed different ways, but they're coming out of the same pockets,' Laura Minzer, President of the Illinois Life and Health insurance council Minzer used a Montana study as evidence for the prediction. Under the Affordable Care Act, there was an expansion for who can be on Medicaid. Montana went through with the expansion, but put a sunset clause in the expansion. When it close to ending, they conducted a study on what the impacts could be. Congress has until March 14th to pass a spending plan. The resolution that called for the cuts has not passed the Senate. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
28-01-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Illinois bill would bar time limits on anesthesia coverage
SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (WCIA) — A bill in the Capitol would bar insurance companies from putting time limits on anesthesia coverage. 'The goal is to make sure that Illinoisans get the coverage that they paid for and that they deserve and that they were promised,' State Rep. Bill Hauter (R-Morton) said. Health insurers now required to cover pregnancy, postpartum care in Illinois It comes after Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield said they would tie payments in some states to the length of time a patient was under anesthesia. The health insurance provider planned to base the length of time a surgery or procedure is estimated to take based on the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Service's physician work time values. After public outcry, they reversed the decision in December saying there was 'significant widespread misinformation' about the policy. The proposal in the State Capitol would guarantee that insurance companies cover anesthesia regardless of how long the procedure takes. Dignity in Pay Act signed into Illinois law 'The patient doesn't have any control over that, the anesthesiologist certainly doesn't have any control over it, and the surgeon sometimes has very little control if there's an issue with anatomy or there's a complication or there's a problem with the equipment in some way,' Hauter, who is also a physician and anesthesiologist, said. 'You can see how that would be ludicrous and almost dangerous.' If the bill becomes law, it would apply to insurance policies that begin at the start of January next year. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
