Federal Issues

IHA Alert: Urge Congress to Support Financial Assistance for Hospitals re: COVID-19

IHA is urgently requesting that Congress approve funding support for hospitals and health systems be included in a new COVID-19 response bill.

IHA Alert: Urge Members of Congress to Reject New Surprise Billing Proposal

Proposed legislation to address surprise billing includes rate setting and unrelated provisions on price transparency and contracting opposed by IHA.

IHA Letter to U.S. Senator Dick Durbin re: Rural America Health Corps Act

IHA supports the Rural America Health Corps Act (S. 2406), which would help address workforce shortages in rural communities.

IHA Position Paper on Surprise Medical Bills

Legislation being considered by Congress would ban “balance billing,” but still unresolved is an approach for determining provider payment.

IHA Letter re: Social Determinants Accelerator Act of 2019

IHA supports the Social Determinants Accelerator Act of 2019 to improve social determinants of health for participants in the Medicaid program.

IHA Position Paper on Surprise Medical Bills

We support legislation to protect patients from surprise bills that uses “baseball-style” arbitration to resolve disputes between providers and health plans.

IHA Letter to Senator Richard J. Durbin on Surprise Billing

IHA letter urges the Illinois Congressional delegation to use successful state laws as a model for federal legislation on surprise billing.

IHA Alert: Public Charge Proposed Rule

Members are urged to comment on the rule by Dec. 10.

Urge Your U.S. Representative to Sign Letter on OPPS Site-Neutral Cuts

Contact your U.S. Representative now and ask him/her to sign the Roskam-Thompson letter on OPPS site-neutral cuts.

Rural Emergency Medical Center (REMC) Act of 2018

IHA Letter to CMS re: Hospital Assessment Program

IHA urges the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services to approve the Illinois Hospital Assessment Program redesign to preserve access to care for Illinois Medicaid beneficiaries.

Support Illinois Hospital Assessment Program

IHA asks the Illinois Congressional Delegation to urge the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services to review and approve the State Plan Amendments for the redesigned Hospital Assessment Program.

IHA Letter to U.S. Senators on Healthcare Price Transparency

In a letter to U.S. senators, IHA provided requested input on healthcare price transparency and shared Illinois’ progress on offering patients relevant and meaningful price information.

Protect the 340B Drug Pricing Program

Ask your U.S. Representative to co-sponsor H.R. 4392 to protect the 340B Drug Pricing Program from a 30 percent pay reduction that could cost hospitals $1.6 billion.

Support Rural Medicare Extenders

Urge Congress to support Rural Medicare Extenders. Funding for the Medicare-dependent hospital and enhanced low-volume adjustment programs expires Sept. 30, 2017.

IHA Summary: Stark and Anti-Kickback Proposed Regulations

On October 9, 2019, the US Dept. of Health and Human Services proposed significant amendments to the Stark, Anti-Kickback and Civil Monetary Penalty laws.

CMS Request for Information on Stark Law

CMS seeks input on concerns about current Physician Self-Referral law; deadline is Aug. 24

Resident Physician Shortage Reduction Act

IHA urges Congress to support the Resident Physician Shortage Reduction Act (H.R. 2267/S. 1301) and prevent cuts and overly burdensome regulations to the Medicare Graduate Medical Education program.

Illinois is Getting Shortchanged

Illinois receives less federal funding per Medicaid beneficiary than any other state and has one of the lowest Medicaid matching rates in the country.

IPPS Proposed Rule Talking Points

See IHA's talking points on the Inpatient Prospective Payment System proposed rule on the phase-in of Worksheet S-10 data for uncompensated care that hospitals provide beginning in FFY 2018.

340B Letter from U.S. Senators

Illinois Sens. Richard J. Durbin and Tammy Duckworth, along with a majority of U.S. senators, urged federal officials to protect the 340B Drug Pricing Program.

About Illinois Hospitals and Health Systems

Learn more about Illinois' 223 hospitals, which together have 1.5 million inpatient admissions and 38 million outpatients visits a year.

ACA Impact by Congressional District

IHA looked at lost spending, econmic impacts and Medicare cuts by Congressional District in our preliminary estimates of repealing the Affordable Care Act without a replacement plan.