Executive Order Number 15-4

Executive Order Number 15-04 (PDF, 198 KB)

EXECUTIVE ORDER CONCERNING MEDICAID EXPANSION IMPLEMENTATION AND AFFORDABLE CARE ACT ENROLLMENT

WHEREAS, the Affordable Care Act (“ACA”) provides Americans with greater health security by implementing comprehensive health insurance reforms to expand coverage, lower health care costs, guaranteeing more choice and enhancing the quality of care for all Americans; and

WHEREAS, since the ACA was enacted in March 2010, millions of Americans have enrolled in health plans that they could not afford or obtain through their employer or individually; and

WHEREAS, the ACA includes Medicaid expansion to millions of low-income Americans and improves and increases accessibility to the state’s Medicaid and Children’s Health Insurance Programs; and

WHEREAS, the state of Illinois enacted Medicaid expansion in July 2013 to include those individuals and families who have income up to 138 percent of the federal poverty line to be eligible for Medicaid or health care coverage and allows up to 600,000 low-income Illinoisans to be eligible for said health care coverage; and

WHEREAS, through Medicaid expansion, the state of Illinois will receive fully matching federal funding until 2017; and

WHEREAS, the State of Illinois, through the Department of Health and Family Services (“HFS”), continues to make Medicaid enrollment accessible and efficient, and assists low-income individuals with disabilities to enroll quickly for health care coverage; and

WHEREAS, the state of Illinois has had significant increases in ACA enrollment and Medicaid coverage enrollment and HFS since the enactment of the Medicaid expansion law; and

WHEREAS, the electronic movement and sharing of health information among health care providers is important to improving health care quality and outcomes for Medicaid enrollees; and

WHEREAS, the state of Illinois enacted the Illinois Health Information Exchange and Technology Act to implement and oversee a statewide health information exchange (HIE) infrastructure to ensure real time access to patient electronic health records; and

WHEREAS, effectiveness of a statewide health information exchange requires coordination and support from all state agencies for the Illinois Health Information Exchange (ILHIE) as the single state HIE hub; and

THEREFORE, I, Pat Quinn, Governor of the State of Illinois, pursuant to the supreme executive authority vested in me by Article V, Section 8 of the Illinois Constitution, hereby orders as follows:

1. A summary of data showing enrollment in the federally-facilitated Health Insurance Marketplace (“HIM”) and Medicaid expansion programs be made available and published on the HFS website on a weekly basis reflecting the progress achieved by the state of Illinois.
2. A consistent engagement by HFS with other health care advocates and federal counterparts to continue to ascertain improvements in streamlining application procedures to achieve maximum enrollment and high levels of accessibility to information and assistance for Medicaid and other ACA coverage for all eligible Illinoisans.
3. A robust plan to increase outreach and awareness by HFS and any of its coordinating partners, including health care advocates and its federal counterparts to promote increased enrollment of low-income and disabled Illinoisans who qualify for Medicaid coverage.
4. HFS shall undertake all appropriate measures to alleviate any disparity in the prices that Medicaid providers owned by women, minorities and persons with disabilities are compensated for services provided, including, but not limited to, information technology services and prescription drugs and related services, and to prevent any such disparity in the future.
5. The Illinois Health Information Exchange will be the single state HIE hub model for the state of Illinois and all state agencies.
6. ILHIE shall be the health information exchange service provider to all of the State’s health and human service agencies, including Medicaid and all its programs.
7. HFS shall align its policies to support the single state HIE hub model.

1. OVERSIGHT
   Oversight of the continued implementation, tracking, monitoring and publication of data involving Medicaid expansion and enrollment identified in this Executive Order shall be provided by a designated liaison within HFS, at the discretion of the agency’s management and leadership team.
2. SAVINGS CLAUSE
   Nothing in this Executive Order shall be construed to contravene any state or federal law.
3. SEVERABILITY
   If any provision of this Executive Order or its application to any person or circumstance is held invalid by any court of competent jurisdiction, this invalidity does not affect any other provision or application of this Executive Order which can be given effect without the invalid provision or application. To achieve this purpose, the provisions of this Executive Order are declared to be severable.
4. EFFECTIVE DATE
   This Executive Order shall take effect immediately upon filing with the Secretary of State.

Pat Quinn
Governor of Illinois

Issued by the Governor:
Filed with the Secretary of State: