House Bill 158 seeks to add more financing for medical services to assist Illinois' poorer and minority communities.
House Bill 158 seeks to add more financing for medical services to assist Illinois' poorer and minority communities.
State Rep. Norine Hammond (R-Macomb) has expressed concerns about the medical services costs for House Bill 158, which was introduced by Rep. Camille Lilly (D-Chicago).
HB 158, if passed, will add more money for the medical services already provided to low-income residents and Illinois residents of color.
This bill will also provide further training for the Illinois Department on Aging so that its personnel can handle people suffering from dementia. Because people with dementia can become violent sometimes, there is a need for additional training.
In addition to those provisions, HB 158 will also develop community health workers across the state and amend the prescription monitoring system in order to curb opioid addiction and abuse in Illinois.
The measure will also fund safety-net hospitals and fund a program designed to prevent and treat sickle cell anemia. All of these provisions were designed to eliminate racial inequities in the health care system of Illinois.
Hammond said many of the components in the bill are “extremely helpful,” but she is concerned with the cost of the legislation. She said she wanted to be sure that everyone knew what they were getting into before they pass the measure.
“With all due respect to the appropriation but according to our figures to fully implement [this] this is somewhere between $12 billion and $15 billion," she said. "Is that something you agree with?”
Hammond added what really concerns her is the total cost of the bill but she is willing to listen to the rest of the discussion on the measure.
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