Dear Friend,
I want you to know that earlier this week, myself and Rep. Chad Hayes introduced a resolution calling on Governor Quinn to go out to bid on a new supplemental, regional HMO product for our retirees under the Medicare Advantage program. Doing so would give him the ability to actually take the lowest bidder (Health Alliance), provide additional choices to retirees, and save the taxpayers a bundle in the process. You can read the resolution [HERE].
Additionally, myself and a bi-partisan group of legislators including Sen. Mike Frerichs, Rep. Naomi Jakobsson, Rep. Hayes, Rep. Adam Brown, and Rep. Bill Mitchell have talked about additional legislative possibilities to deal with this situation. However, at this point “time” is our enemy. With the switch to Medicare Advantage taking place February 1st, anything we do during next week’s veto session, Governor Quinn has 60 days to approve or veto. In other words, without his cooperation, he could simply wait this out to the point where it would be too late to get a new provider in place by February 1st!
Until he decides to help, “open enrollment” moves forward under the current providers that his administration picked. I would encourage each of you to attend one of the CMS Q&A workshops before making a decision of which providers to select. Presumably, if the Governor’s office were to accede to our bi-partisan group’s request that he go back out to bid, they could do another “sign up” later – BUT, that is not the case at this point and you should not assume that he will agree to do this. So, again, I would encourage you to attend one of the CMS scheduled workshops now.
While CMS is holding statewide sessions, here is a list of those in/around the 51st Senate District. I hope this is helpful information. Each of these locations will hold seminars at 9:30 AM and 1:30 PM.
Best Regards,
Chapin Rose
State Senator
November 12, 2013
Legacy Theatre
101 E Lawrence Avenue
Springfield, IL
Oak Terrace Resort
100 Beyers Lake Road
Pana, IL
November 13, 2013
Danville Area Community College
Bremer Center
2000 East Main Street
Danville, IL
November 15, 2013
Illinois Terminal
45 East University Avenue
Champaign, IL
November 19, 2013
Tuscola Community Building
122 W North Central
Tuscola, IL
November 20, 2013
Legacy Theatre
101 E Lawrence Avenue
Springfield, IL
November 26, 2013
Illinois State University
ISU Alumni Center
1101 N Main
Normal, IL
November 27, 2013
Eastern Illinois University
Grand Ballroom
MLK, Jr University Union
600 Lincoln Avenue
Charleston, IL
For a complete list of statewide seminars, please click here.