Long-Term Care - Illinois General Assembly

Representatives of all provider groups affected by the tax should be at the negotiating table as
any provider proposal is considered.
If additional taxes are considered for any provider group to fill a budget hole or to increase
funding, such a plan should be considered for all qualified Medicaid provider groups.
RATES SHOULD BASED UPON A UNIFIED, OBJECTIVE, VERIFIABLE, COST BASED REIMBURSEMENT
SYSTEM USING AUDITED PROVIDER COST REPORTS
It makes no sense that some providers receive more than their costs, while others receive less
than the cost of providing care. Some receive a huge “profit” (up to 27% in some cases), while
others do not. As part of a comprehensive planning approach, the state must be able to know
what each service costs, and pay providers fairly based upon those costs. Unfortunately, cost
information is currently not collected from some groups; while for other it is collected, but not
used to establish payment rates, and there are no negative consequences if providers do not
submit the information.
ESTABLISH A STANDARDIZED COMPLAINT SYSTEM
An important aspect of ensuring customer and family satisfaction is the ability to make
reasonable complaints and to have those complaints resolved. The current system makes it
difficult for an individual to navigate through the complaint process. Currently, IDPH, IDHS,
Aging, and the State Police all have complaint hotlines. Individuals contacting these hotlines
may not be aware of the appropriate agency to contact when problems arise. Consolidation of
these hotlines into a single entity will streamline the process, saving vital time and state
resources as well as making the complaint process much easier to access. In addition to a
common intake system, it is imperative that common definitions of abuse, neglect and financial
exploitation, common complaint investigation procedures, common definitions of types of
complaints, standardized mandated reporter guidelines and standard complaint investigation
protocols be established.
ESTABLISH A WEBSITE THAT CONSUMERS CAN USE
The website must be searchable and user friendly. It should include an assessment tool to
gauge the needs of the prospective customer, an explanation of the costs of the service options,
and a directory of the full range of services available by geographic area. As the site is
developed, it could be expanded to include the results of customer satisfaction surveys, quality
standards, staffing information, and comments from residents and family members about the
service delivered in each setting so that individuals searching the site can get a balanced view.
It would be necessary to determine the most appropriate state entity to host and maintain the
site, dialog with interested parties about the content of the site and give consideration to what
consumer satisfaction information should be contained on the site and the most appropriate
method for collecting such data.
DEVELOP A SINGLE POINT-OF-ENTRY FOR ALL LONG-TERM CARE SERVICES, AND CONSOLIDATE CASE
MANAGEMENT SERVICES
Right now individuals spend considerable time just learning how to navigate the system. Many
become frustrated and finally enter the system with negative attitudes about how they have
been treated. Dealing with health issues of family members is stressful enough without
complicating it further. The unification of case management activities would benefit customers,
57