Bill Text: IL HR0807 | 2021-2022 | 102nd General Assembly | Introduced

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Bill Title: Strongly declares our commitment to ensuring access to quality health care for Illinois residents. Urges the Illinois Congressional Delegation to support federal legislation building on the Affordable Care Act to ensure all people have access to health care, regardless of income, race, or location. Opposes extreme efforts to strip away health care from people with pre-existing conditions, dismantle regulation, and allow big insurance companies to pad their profits at the expense of patients.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 35-0)

Status: (Passed) 2022-04-05 - Added Co-Sponsor Rep. Kelly M. Cassidy [HR0807 Detail]

Download: Illinois-2021-HR0807-Introduced.html

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HOUSE RESOLUTION
WHEREAS, The State of Illinois is committed to ensuring
its residents have affordable and accessible health care,
regardless of their income, ethnicity, or zip code; and
WHEREAS, We have continued to take important steps in this
State to reaffirm our commitment to ensuring access to quality
health care for patients and healthcare consumers in Illinois,
despite attempts from Republican members to undermine these
efforts; and
WHEREAS, In 2021, the Illinois Legislative Black Caucus
presented and passed the Health Equity Pillar, which included
important provisions like implicit bias and racial training,
expansion of sick leave, increased access to primary care
physicians and federal qualified health centers, and state
health assessment and improvement plan additions; and
WHEREAS, Medicaid funding was expanded under the Health
Equity Pillar and other key legislation to include the
coverage of, among other things, home-visiting and doulas,
community health workers, hospital psychiatric services,
veteran support specialists, noncitizen post-kidney transplant
services, certified community behavioral health clinics,
overdose patient observation treatment, and undocumented

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health coverage; and
WHEREAS, Under the leadership of Leader Greg Harris,
Illinois recently passed HB 1745 and, by doing so, became the
first state to pass legislation to ensure patients have the
ability to plan and predict their prescription drug costs; and
WHEREAS, Under the leadership of Leader Mary Flowers,
Illinois is leading the way for biomarker testing by becoming
the first state in the country to pass biomarker testing
coverage in HB 1779; the passage of HB 1779 ensures that over
three million Illinoisans have access to comprehensive
biomarker testing through Medicaid and state regulated
insurance; and
WHEREAS, When former Governor Bruce Rauner slashed funding
for lifesaving breast cancer screenings, senior care, HIV/AIDS
services, and more, Democrats and a small number of
independent-minded Republicans stood up to Rauner's extreme
cuts and passed a budget over Rauner's veto; Illinois has
continued to rebuild its critical infrastructure after the
damage Rauner caused by passing a comprehensive budget,
including $24 million to the Illinois Breast and Cervical
Cancer Program, $138 million for HIV/AIDS services and
prevention, $30 million to maternal and child health programs,
and over $980 million to the Community Care Program, which,

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among other things, includes services to keep seniors in their
homes instead of in a long-term care setting; and
WHEREAS, In order to improve the health outcomes of
residents in the State of Illinois, we continue to recognize
that it is essential to dramatically reform the State's health
and human service system and remain committed to introducing
more measures to support this transformation; and
WHEREAS, While partisan idealogues across the country
tried to block the implementation of the Affordable Care Act
and the federal expansion of Medicaid, Illinois acted
decisively in expanding access to care; and
WHEREAS, While former President Donald Trump disgracefully
tried to strip health care access from millions, Illinois
moved in a fundamentally better direction by implementing
state-level protections for care for individuals with
pre-existing conditions, regardless of what extremists in
Washington do; therefore, be it
RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE ONE
HUNDRED SECOND GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that
we once again strongly declare our commitment to ensuring
access to quality health care for Illinois residents; and be
it further

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RESOLVED, That we urge the Illinois Congressional
Delegation to support federal legislation building on the
Affordable Care Act to ensure all people have access to health
care, regardless of income, race, or location; and be it
further
RESOLVED, That we oppose extreme efforts to strip away
health care from people with pre-existing conditions,
dismantle regulation, and allow big insurance companies to pad
their profits at the expense of patients; and be it further
RESOLVED, That suitable copies of this resolution be
delivered to the Governor, all Illinois constitutional
officers, and all members of the Illinois Congressional
Delegation in order to bring further awareness to the
importance of access to affordable quality health care in the
State of Illinois and to be a model state for the rest of the
country.