HR0680 98TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

HR0680 LRB098 14727 GRL 49614 r

HOUSE RESOLUTION

WHEREAS, The federal Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act was signed into law by President Barack Obama on March 23, 2010; and

WHEREAS, In February of 2013, the United States Department of Health and Human Services issued approval for the State of Illinois to operate a health insurance marketplace, a key component of the Affordable Care Act, in partnership with the federal government; the marketplace is meant to be a centralized system for individuals and small businesses to purchase insurance policies; and

WHEREAS, Under the partnership marketplace, the State of Illinois maintains responsibility for regulating the insurance market and conducting consumer outreach and assistance, while the federal government is responsible for building and operating the marketplace; and

WHEREAS, The State of Illinois refused to release information regarding approved marketplace plans and rates prior to the October 1, 2013 open enrollment date, leaving both consumers and consumer assisters unprepared for open enrollment; and

WHEREAS, The marketplaces need to average 39,000 enrollees per day to meet the federal government's goal of 7 million enrollees by March 1, 2013; and

WHEREAS, In the first 2 days of open enrollment, in which the federal marketplace website received heavy traffic, less than 300 people had managed to obtain insurance coverage through the marketplace; and

WHEREAS, Secretary of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius acknowledged in testimony before the United States House of Representatives Energy and Commerce Committee that the dysfunctional website has seriously hampered the rollout of the controversial law; and

WHEREAS, Despite President Obama's promise that those who were content with their current health insurance coverage could keep it, hundreds of thousands of consumers across the country have received notice that their current policy would be canceled; and

WHEREAS, A multitude of the Affordable Care Act's requirements have already been delayed in advance of the law's January 1, 2014 implementation date; these changes include a one-year delay of the "employer mandate", which requires large employers to provide health insurance to their employees, and a one-year delay on the requirement to place caps on out-of-pocket insurance costs; and

WHEREAS, The federal government also announced that there would be delayed enforcement of several eligibility checks for marketplace subsidies; this is allowing consumers to provide necessary financial information to the government on the "honor system"; and

WHEREAS, Obama administration officials have ordered a "tech surge" to address the multitude of issues with the federal marketplace website; they do not expect the website to be fully functioning until at least the end of November; therefore, be it

RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE NINETY-EIGHTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we urge Congress, in light of ongoing technological issues and the cancellation of coverage for many Americans, to delay the Affordable Care Act's "individual mandate" requirement for further examination; and be it further

RESOLVED, That the Illinois Department of Insurance is urged to release any available information regarding the number of people in Illinois whose current health insurance plan was cancelled due to new Affordable Care Act requirements and the number of people in Illinois who have obtained health insurance coverage through the Illinois marketplace; and be it further

RESOLVED, That suitable copies of this resolution be delivered to Governor Pat Quinn, Director of the Illinois Department of Insurance Andrew Boron, Director of the Illinois Department of Healthcare and Family Services Julie Hamos, and the members of the Illinois congressional delegation.