State officials said Friday they will work with providers and other stakeholders to minimize the loss of coverage and service reductions brought by the recently approved federal tax and spending plan. [Health News Illinois]
Department of Healthcare and Family Services Director Elizabeth Whitehorn told members of the Medicaid Advisory Committee that plenty of uncertainty remains in the month since President Donald Trump signed the package, which includes around $911 billion in cuts to Medicaid and other reductions to services like the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program.
Whitehorn said they are working with Gov. JB Pritzker and his office so resources are in place to implement federal requirements in a “responsible manner.”
“With everything going on now, with all of the upcoming changes, it's really even more important that we work closely with all of you as we plan for the future,” she said.
A recent analysis by KFF found Illinois could lose $46 billion in federal Medicaid funding over the next 10 years due to the law. The majority of federal savings stem from Medicaid work requirements for some adults, as well as limits on states’ use of provider taxes to draw down more federal dollars.
HFS said their internal projects for most of the provisions say the losses over the next decade will be at least $26 billion.
Whitehorn noted most changes to Medicaid will not take place for at least another year, such as the work requirements coming in 2027.
Emma Watters Reardon, HFS’ policy director, said they estimate between 270,000 and 500,000 Illinoisans will lose coverage due to work requirements, with the vast majority due to administrative barriers placed on the law.
“HFS is really intending to be as thoughtful as possible in planning this implementation process,” she said. “We know this is something that's really concerning to customers and advocates.”
Changes to the provider tax and state-directed payments are also expected to raise issues. Reardon said they will be forced to reduce the state-directed payments to hospitals by about three-and-a-half billion dollars over five years.
Reardon said they are also working closely with the Department of Human Services as they work on changes, specifically due to the overlap of residents who use services with both agencies.
Officials said over 1.9 million Illinoisans use SNAP benefits, and new proposed work and eligibility requirements would put food assistance for at least 360,000 recipients at risk.
About 1.7 million Illinoisans receive both SNAP and Medicaid benefits.
Leslie Cully, the acting director for DHS' Division of Family & Community Services, said they are working to improve the application process for the program, such as using AI to flag high error-prone cases and improving training tools to prevent client errors.
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