Discrimination in Health Care
In my last article, I discussed my role as an educator when meeting with new legislators and staff at the Statehouse. Now that we are in the midst of the legislative session, conversations have shifted from “who we are” to “what we need.”
On March 23rd, 2010 the following line was signed into law by President Obama:
“A group health plan and a health insurance issuer offering group or individual health insurance coverage shall not discriminate with respect to participation under the plan or coverage against any health care provider who is acting within the scope of that provider’s license or certification under applicable State law.”
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Let me break that legalese down just a bit more: Health Insurance shall not discriminate against any health care provider acting within their scope. It seems straightforward enough, right?
Despite the fact that this non-discrimination language (found in the Federal Codes 42 U.S.C. §300gg-5) became effective January 1st, 2014 for all health insurance providers, broad exclusions of entire types of health care providers are still commonplace. Illinois enjoys having a variety of health care providers who pursued different paths to clinical expertise and licensure (e.g. optometrists, podiatrists, physical therapists, nurse practitioners, and chiropractic physicians). Unfortunately, many providers are being categorically denied or held to separate standards when it comes to patient care when performing the same service (CPT Code) as another provider type.
This is why the Illinois Chiropractic Society has begun work with a number of legislators to take this federal non-discrimination language and codify it into Illinois state statute.
Taking this action will help to prevent the continued practice of provider type discrimination, as well as:
- increase patient access to high-quality health care services,
- provide consumers with more choices in their health care decisions, and
- encourage competition which decreases overall health care costs for patients, payers, and the wider health care system.
We have two sponsors, Senator Linda Holmes with Senate Bill 1333 and Representative Robert Martwick with House Bill 2769, who have agreed to help us in our efforts. If you by chance live in either of these Legislator’s districts, you should call them and thank them for helping us in this matter. If you live in another district, you should call your State Senator and Representative and ask them to please support SB1333 and HB2769. If you do not know your legislator, go to www.ilchiro.org/ and under the Politics & Policy tab, select “Find Your Legislator”.
Our message is simple. We are not seeking to expand scope – this isn’t even a chiropractic specific issue. We are not breaking new legislative ground. We are simply seeking help in reinforcing a law that already exists and limits discrimination of health care providers. So please, contact your legislators today and ask them to support Senate Bill 1333 and House Bill 2769!
