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RSEA Working Legislatively to Address Member Concerns About New Aetna Medicare Plan In response to member concerns identified in the Aetna transition, RSEA asked several legislators to introduce legislation for us. This legislation would address problems with a number of providers not agreeing to accept the new Aetna-only Medicare Advantage Passive PPO plan. Senate Bill 1762 was introduced on February 9, 2023, by Senator Ann Gillespie with Senator David Koehler joining as Joint Co-Sponsor. Rep. Camille Y. Lilly also introduced House Bill 3066 as a vehicle to carry our proposal. Approval of this legislation would prevent any retiree on Medicare from being balance billed by any Illinois provider for more than the Medicare approved amount and thereby protect them from having to change their doctor or hospital if that provider chooses to become a non-network provider. Unfortunately, this legislation has run into opposition from the Illinois State Medical Society, and the Chair of the Senate Insurance Committee only allowed bills without opposition to be heard in his committee. As a result, our bill was not heard in committee and did not move to the Senate floor. The Department of Insurance (DOI) is open to the concept of what we are trying to do but has some concerns about how our legislation is drafted. AFSCME of Illinois, ISAE-Retirees and other retiree’s organizations support our efforts. Our sponsors have asked us to work with the DOI and others to produce agreeable language to address their concerns while achieving our purpose of ensuring that our members can continue to see non-network providers without having to change providers or pay any more out of pocket expenses. RSEA’s legislative team and its lobbyists will be meeting with DOI staff this month with the goal of reaching a compromise on this important legislative proposal by the end of Spring session next month. We also want to thank our sponsors for their support and efforts on behalf of RSEA members.. |