[OccupyCU] Fwd: [cchcc-l] Gov. Quinn Announces State-Federal Partnership Health Exchange

[s.hansen at comcast.net]

----- Forwarded Message -----
From: "Champaign County Health Care Consumers" <cchcc at healthcareconsumers.org> 
To: cchcc-l at lists.shout.net 
Sent: Thursday, July 26, 2012 8:59:39 AM 
Subject: [cchcc-l] Gov. Quinn Announces State-Federal Partnership Health        Exchange 


Dear Friends, 

On behalf of Champaign County Health Care Consumers (CCHCC), we would like 
thank everyone who signed the petition calling on Illinois' Governor Quinn 
to establish the Health Exchange, whether online, in our office, at the 
Urbana Farmer's Market, or at one of our Task Force meetings. 

Last week Governor Quinn announced that Illinois would move forward to 
establish a state-federal partnership Health Exchange. CCHCC and other 
health care advocates had been organizing to pressure the Illinois General 
Assembly and Governor Quinn to instead establish a state-operated Health 
Exchange that would have allowed for an insurance marketplace that was 
customized to meet the specific needs of Illinoisans and would have been 
governed by Illinoisans. 

Frankly, we are disappointed that our state leadership did not rise to the 
challenge and take advantage of the opportunity to have a locally governed, 
pro-consumer Health Benefits Exchange that would have best met the needs of 
the residents of Illinois. Despite the claim by state officials that there 
was not enough time remaining to establish a state-operated exchange, we do 
believe that Illinois had sufficient time if the elected leadership had the 
political will. 

HOWEVER, having a state-federal partnership Exchange up and running in 
Illinois in 2014 is indeed a VICTORY for the residents of Illinois. 

Through the Exchange in 2014 alone: 
 * 486,000 residents will enroll in private health insurance plans; 
 * 500,000 residents will join the expanded Medicaid program (which the 
state would receive 100% federal matching reimbursement for those costs the 
first three years of the Exchange); And 
 * 247,000 residents would qualify for federal subsidies for premiums and 
co-payments to help with insurance costs. 

(Source: Wakely Consulting Group, Health Management Association, Illinois 
Department of Healthcare and Family Services) 

Please read on for more information about State-Federal Partnership Health 
Exchanges. Also, please check out this article from The State-Journal 
Register regarding Governor Quinn's decision: 

http://www.sj-r.com/top-stories/x1798690424/State-to-work-with-feds-on-health-insurance-exchange 

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * 
WHAT IS A STATE-FEDERAL PARTNERSHIP? 

In May 2012, the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) 
announced a third Exchange model. States could apply for a state-operated 
Health Exchange, have a federally-facilitated Exchange, or now enter into a 
state-federal partnership for 2014 - the first year that the Exchange would 
be operational. 

The state-federal partnership Exchange is a mix of the first two options, 
where the responsibilities, control, and decision-making would be split 
between the state and federal government. In this model, HHS would be 
responsible for ensuring the Exchange meets all of the standards. HHS would 
run the online marketplace website. Illinois can decide to operate some of 
the plan management functions (health insurance plan selection and other 
details) and consumer assistance (in-person assistance and outreach). 

This state-federal partnership will give Illinois legislators an 
additional year to finalize a state-run Health Exchange to start in 2015. 

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * 

At this point in time, we are still gathering information on the final 
details of how state-federal Health Exchanges will operate and which 
components of the Exchange Illinois may seek to operate. We must remain 
vigilant as decisions may be made for the state-federal partnership that 
will lay the groundwork for the state-operated Exchange in 2015. We must 
continue to fight for a pro-consumer exchange that has consumer 
representation on the operating Board and prevents any sway from the 
insurance industries. 

Again, we want to thank all of you for taking action and fighting for the 
creation of the Illinois Health Benefits Exchange. CCHCC remains committed 
to a pro-consumer Exchange and we will be calling on you to help shape what 
our Exchange looks like in 2014 under the state-federal partnership and 
what it looks like in 2015 as a standalone Exchange. 

Sincerely, 

Champaign County Health Care Consumers 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 
Champaign County Health Care Consumers 
44 E. Main Street  Suite 208 
Champaign, IL 61820 

Phone: (217) 352-6533 
Fax:   (217) 352-9745 
E-mail: cchcc at healthcareconsumers.org 
Web:    www.healthcareconsumers.org 

Check out CCHCC on Facebook at www.facebook.com/healthcareconsumers! 
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 

Support health care justice - donate to CCHCC today! Visit our website to make a tax-deductible contribution today. 
http://www.healthcareconsumers.org/index.php?action=Donation 
_______________________________________________ 
To manage your subscription to the CCHCC email list, please click the link below. 
cchcc-l mailing list 
cchcc-l at lists.shout.net 
http://lists.shout.net/mailman/listinfo/cchcc-l 
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://lists.chambana.net/pipermail/occupycu/attachments/20120729/014fee78/attachment.html>