Dear Neighbor,

Yesterday the Illinois General Assembly passed a historic Medicaid Reform bill, the Saving Medicaid Access and Resources Together (SMART) Act.  This legislation reduces the cost of the Medicaid program an estimated $1.6 billion.  It is not an easy choice, but one I believe was critical to enable the state to continue to provide access to high quality healthcare for our neediest residents.  It ensures the ongoing solvency of this critical health care program, and prevents much deeper cuts from being required by continuing to pile up unpaid Medicaid bills.  The legislation is the product of bi-partisan, bi-cameral negotiations, and is one piece of an overall Medicaid reform package.  Today the House voted to increase the cigarette tax and expand hospital assessment to generate $800 million in new revenues to fund the Medicaid program. The Senate will take this revenue bill up within the next few days.  I negotiated this bill for the Senate Democratic caucus.  While I know it's not perfect and will not be painless, I am confident that our actions will result in a Medicaid program that provides better care for our most vulnerable residents well into the future.  You can read the entire SMART Act here or a summary of the bill's provisions here.

Please let me know if you have questions on these or any other items. You can reach me by email at hsteans@senatedem.ilga.gov or by phone at 773-769-1717.

Best regards,

Heather A. Steans