SPRINGFIELD - State Senator Napoleon Harris, III (D-Harvey) passed legislation out of the General Assembly that would require all Illinois-regulated health insurance companies to offer predictable plans for drug benefits.
“Many families have a monthly budget, and knowing how much their drug copayment will be every month would give them the ability to better manage their finances,” Harris said. “Flat-dollar copay plans should be an option for everyone and should be available immediately.”
Currently, most health insurance plans have a structure for prescription drug copayments based on graduated tiers. For the highest levels of drugs, often called specialty care drugs, these plans usually use coinsurance – requiring patients to pay a percentage of the drug’s cost – rather than a copay.
Read more: Harris: Working families deserve flat-dollar copay plans
SPRINGFIELD – Legislation sponsored by State Senator Steve Stadelman (D-Rockford) that passed the General Assembly on Thursday would require public schools that offer sex education curricula to include a lesson about the risks of sexting.
“Technology has evolved a significant amount in the last decade,” Stadelman said. “This legislation would update Illinois’ sex education curriculum to include a lesson on sexting, so students can learn about the real-life consequences of the virtual act.”
The legislation would require schools that offer a sex education course or unit to revise their current curricula to include an age-appropriate lesson on sexting and its potential consequences.
Read more: Stadelman legislation teaches students the consequences of sexting
SPRINGFIELD – The Illinois State Senate approved a measure sponsored by State Senator Robert Peters (D-Chicago) that would increase transparency around misconduct and discipline at Chicago Public schools.
“Parents lose the ability to properly take care of their children if they don’t know about important events like fights at school,” Peters said. “Parents have the right to know what’s going on at their kids’ schools so that they can help their kids get the proper treatment and care to deal with traumatic events.”
Read more: Peters: Parents have the right to know what’s going on at their kids’ schools
SPRINGFIELD – State Senator Dave Koehler (D-Peoria) pledged to continue work on his initiative to demand that excessive profits received by Managed Care Organizations during the COVID-19 pandemic be returned to the state.
“As we begin to move into a post-COVID-19 world, we’re seeing that managed care organizations brought in record-breaking profits while many communities across the state struggled to receive basic care and necessary resources during the pandemic,” Koehler said. “If we are able to reallocate excess profits from these companies, we can help hospitals stay open and keep providing lifesaving care in our low-income and rural communities.”
The legislation was filed in response to decreased health care service use during the period where elective surgeries and procedures were postponed. Decreased use resulted in MCOs paying fewer claims and therefore retaining unprecedented amounts of enrollment-based profit, the scope of which was revealed via a Better Government Association investigation. Those wishing to read more about the results of the investigation can visit the BGA’s website.
Read more: Koehler calls for hearings on legislation requiring MCOs to return excess profits
Page 488 of 621