In a bid to improve healthcare access for working families, a new measure has been proposed in Illinois. Representative Scherer expressed concerns over the actions of big health insurance companies, citing their past record of reducing benefits and finding ways to cut costs without adequately helping their policyholders. Scherer has been working hard to prevent a repeat of the issues that occurred following the Blue Cross Blue Shield and Springfield Clinic fallout.
To achieve this goal, Scherer is supporting House Bill 5395, which establishes the Health Care Consumer Access and Protection Act. This legislation includes several provisions aimed at ensuring that private, state, and managed care health plans offer better and more affordable coverage. Some key elements of the bill involve requiring network adequacy audits and drug formulary transparency, implementing a rate review process for large group health insurance plans, and simplifying the prior authorization process for inpatient mental health care.
Additionally, the bill seeks to address issues such as step therapy, inadequate short-term health insurance plans, and the immediate use of prescribed medications and treatments. Scherer emphasized the need to hold health insurance companies and drug manufacturers accountable for the impact their actions have on patients. By prioritizing people over profits and greed, Illinois aims to provide quality healthcare options to its residents.
