SPRINGFIELD – State Senator Mattie Hunter (D-Chicago) introduced legislation that would require the Illinois Department of Healthcare and Family Services to establish a Medicaid Technical Assistance Center.

“Billing and insurance isn’t always a simple process, but it should be,” Hunter said. “The state could benefit from a more established system, so that Medicaid and other managed care organizations are billing properly.”

The center would operate as a cross-system educational resource to identify, establish and maintain best practices necessary for health care providers to ensure their capacity to participate in the managed care program.

This legislation also sets forth requirements for the center, and creates the Medicaid Technical Assistance Center Fund for all moneys appropriated to HFS for the Center.

According to the Illinois Collaboration on Youth, the majority of providers have either never billed Medicaid or managed care organizations, or they do bill MCOs but have capacity issues with tracking down claims and payments.

The center would help providers who have never billed Medicaid and providers who have issues billing Medicaid get the tools needed to effectively bill MCOs for services provided. 

Senate Bill 341 has been assigned to the Senate Health Committee and will be heard on Tuesday, March 9 at 3 p.m. The legislation can be tracked here.