Illinois new sweeping healthcare law will put hospital closures on hold until pandemic ends

April 2, 2021  –  Hospital closures in Illinois will have to wait until after the COVID-19 pandemic subsides under a bill headed to the desk of Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker. The bill is a response to controversy over the potential shuttering of Mercy Hospital (Bronzeville, IL), the Chicago Tribune reports.

The expansive bill, which addresses healthcare disparities affecting brown and Black Illinois residents, would allow the state Health Facilities and Services Review Board to put off approval of applications to close hospitals.

The part of the bill restricting hospital closures arose out of concern over plans to close Mercy, announced in July 2020. Mercy serves many brown and Black patients. Community leaders and members protested the proposed closure, saying without Mercy, the area would be left without adequate healthcare.

It would allow the board to defer action on new and recent applications until the expiration of a statewide disaster declaration made by Gov. J.B. Pritzker because of COVID-19, the expiration of the public health emergency declared by the federal government, or until July 1 — whichever comes later.

It would also allow the board to hold off on earlier applications that are now pending before the board, such as Mercy’s, for 60 days.

The bill would require healthcare professionals who have continuing education (CE) requirements to complete at least a one-hour course in implicit bias training per license or registration renewal period. Implicit bias is bias that can surface automatically, and often unconsciously, when encountering a person of another race, gender or group. Experts say it may be one factor leading to worse health outcomes for Black people.

The bill also would create a $50 million a year grant program to support OB/GYN services or other specialty services at safety net hospitals. That measure comes after a number of hospitals on the city’s Side Side closed or suspended their OB-GYN units in recent years despite higher mortality rates among pregnant Black women.

In addition, the bill would require prenatal doula services to be covered under Medicaid, a state and federally funded health insurance program for low-income and other individuals.

And it would create a commission to evaluate the effectiveness of Illinois’ Medicaid managed care program. Under that program, health insurance companies and organizations administer Medicaid benefits for the state, with the goal of improving patient care and saving money. More than 2.6 million people in Illinois were enrolled in the program as of February.

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