Mt. Vernon, IL – Leaders of SSM Health in Illinois met with the state representatives urging them to work with the Illinois Health and Hospital Association (IHA) and the hospital community to support healthcare by passing legislation that will preserve critical state General Revenue Funding for hospitals; advance Medicaid Managed Care Organization (MCO) prior authorization reforms; help deter violence against healthcare workers; and protect the 340B drug discount program.
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They were among 90 leaders of hospitals and health systems from across the state who were at the State Capitol in Springfield on May 8 for Hospital Advocacy Day organized by the IHA.
“We want to thank our representatives for meeting with us to listen to the critical healthcare needs of our patients and communities,” said Damon Harbison, President of SSM Health Good Samaritan Hospital, St. Mary’s Hospital, and Rural Health Network in Illinois. “With their support, we can maintain our commitment to delivering high-quality, compassionate healthcare.”
Darren Dunahee, Manager of SSM Health Behavioral Health Services, and Rae Ann McDonal, RN in the Emergency Department at SSM Health St. Mary’s Hospital – Centralia spoke about their encounters with workplace violence. Damon Harbison and Michael Richards, Vice President of SSM Health Government Affairs and Public Policy, pointed out that SSM Health and hospitals across the state need members of the Illinois General Assembly to vote in support of the following healthcare policy:
- Continued investment in equitable Medicaid hospital rates to provide access to quality healthcare for all by approving proposed funding for hospitals identified in Gov. JB Pritzker’s Fiscal Year 2025 introduced budget, specifically full funding of the 10% Medicaid rate increase for hospitals enacted last year that took effect Jan. 1, 2024.
- Reforms to reduce barriers to healthcare, streamline access to patient care and improve health outcomes by targeting inappropriate and inconsistent MCO prior authorization practices. The legislation embraces care coordination and seeks to limit the MCO prior authorization denials and delays that represent some of the top challenges to providing healthcare to Medicaid patients.
- To deter increasingly vicious physical, emotional and verbal attacks, IHA introduced Senate Bill 1863 to make it clear that those who harm healthcare professionals will be held accountable under law. The commonsense bipartisan legislation includes violence against a healthcare worker in a healthcare setting as an aggravating factor a judge can consider during sentencing. Senate Bill 1863 is not a penalty enhancement.
- Senate Bill 3727 will help ensure access to life-saving drugs for patients served by 340B covered entities by prohibiting pharmaceutical manufacturers from interfering with a pharmacy contracted with a 340B covered entity, such as hospitals. Pharmaceutical manufacturers are actively working to limit the reach of the program for Illinois residents by limiting their ability to fill prescriptions through their local pharmacy, such as Walgreens or CVS. These actions make it difficult, and in some cases, impossible for Illinois’ most vulnerable patients to get their prescription medication.
Hospital Advocacy Day is an opportunity for hospital and health system leaders from communities throughout the state to meet face-to-face with legislators and share first-hand how legislation will impact their organizations and the patients they serve.
Statewide, hospitals and health systems are major job creators and economic engines in their communities, generating more than 445,000 direct and indirect jobs with an economic impact of $117.7 billion a year.
About SSM Health Illinois
SSM Health Illinois is a Catholic, not-for-profit health system serving the comprehensive health needs of communities across southern Illinois through a robust and fully integrated health care delivery system. The organization’s 1,000 team members and more than 100 providers are committed to providing exceptional health care services and revealing God’s healing presence to everyone they serve.
With care delivery sites in Benton, Centralia, Mt. Vernon, Nashville, and Salem, SSM Health Illinois includes 2 hospitals, more than 43 physician offices and other outpatient and virtual care services, comprehensive home care and hospice services, and an intensive outpatient adult behavioral health program. It is one of the largest employers in every community it serves. For more information, visit ssmhealth.com or find us on Facebook.
