Illinois to limit insurers involved in Medicaid managed care

Illinois Gov. Bruce Rauner announced plans to overhaul the state’s current Medicaid managed care system, capping the number of insurers involved while expanding coverage to 80 percent of the state’s beneficiaries through managed care.

“We've done managed care in Illinois but like a lot of things we've done in state government, it's kind of in name only,” Rauner said, according to the Chicago Tribune.

Legislation signed in 2011 set the goal of having 50 percent of the state’s Medicaid population in managed care plans by 2015. Currently, those plans cover about 65 percent of beneficiaries, but Rauner said rural areas of the state have little access to managed care, and greater numbers of insurers involved have created administrative headaches for providers.

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John Gregory, Senior Writer

John joined TriMed in 2016, focusing on healthcare policy and regulation. After graduating from Columbia College Chicago, he worked at FM News Chicago and Rivet News Radio, and worked on the state government and politics beat for the Illinois Radio Network. Outside of work, you may find him adding to his never-ending graphic novel collection.

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