Advocacy News
To: American College of Cardiology - Illinois Chapter
From: Dan Johnson
Re: End of session report
2026 has been a mixed bag so far.
We notched a major victory by initiating rule-making to allow for lead-free labs, liberating our members from heavy aprons. Thanks to our efforts, the Illinois Emergency Management Agency - Office of Homeland Security formally filed administrative rules allowing health care facilities to use newer technology and avoid the need for lead aprons.
We not only drafted the initial rules, we organized a national coalition in support, standing up a website at ModernRadiationPolicy.org. We also asked Representative (soon to be Congressman) La Shawn K Ford to file a House Resolution calling on the agency to draft and adopt the rules as House Resolution 565, an action that helped bring pressure on the agency.
Our legislative efforts did not get to the finish line this year. Following up our success at mandating peripheral artery disease screening as a preventative measure for state-regulated private health insurance, state employees and Medicaid last year (which goes into effort this year), we focused on covering calcium scans as a similar preventative measure. This year, however, the Trump Administration’s severe cuts to Medicaid left the Pritzker Administration very hostile to any legislation that imposed additional costs on Medicaid or state employees – even those like a calcium scan that saved far more dollars down the road then it would cost in the first few years. Opposition from the Pritzker Administration left us negotiating a smaller bill and ultimately our passionate sponsor Rep Morris in the House managed to pass House Bill 4207 that exempted out state employees, imposed the mandate on private insurance and required the Medicaid plan to cover the test – subject to appropriation.
In the Senate, that compromise was not met with enthusiasm. The Department of Healthcare and Family Services that manages Medicaid still opposed the bill and only in the last few weeks of session dropped their opposition. Our Senate sponsor Senator Harris prefers a bill that actually gets the test for Medicaid recipients – no subject to appropriation language – and treats state employees and private health insurance equally (both of them have to pay for it). The private insurance industry feels it is unfair if they have to pay for a service for their covered lives but the State does not have to for their covered lives.
Despite this being a money and life saver, the intense pressure on the Medicaid budget colored the entire conversation and legislative discussion, leading us to not finding agreement.
We can continue to advocate over the summer with DHFS and the Pritzker Administration to cover this scan. We can also try to build a similar coalition of supporters to push for a stronger mandate next year. And we can retool our strategy to consider just advocating for Medicaid coverage without any copays and drop efforts to cover state employees and state-regulated private insurance plans – those two are often twinned together while Medicaid is its own set of covered lives. Plus, the population we are most concerned about are the Medicaid patients. This would be a full push to cover the cost and argue that (a) it is the right thing to do and (b) it also saves money over the medium and long term.
We also made an initial push to address the new federal caps on medical school debt. A provision of the federal One Big Beautiful Bill restricts the total amount of student debt to $250,000 – well below the cost of medical school. We sent a letter to the Illinois Student Assistance Commission and had an exchange with one of the Commissioners, but we were not able to get more traction with other stakeholders but perhaps in the fall when the first cohorts of students are forced to the private market with higher interest rates we will be able to mount a policy campaign.
Get Involved in Grassroots
Through its advocacy efforts, the ACC builds relationships with Congress, federal government agencies, state legislative and regulatory bodies, private insurers and other policy making groups to advance the College's mission of improving heart health.
In 2016, the College's advocacy priorities include creating a value-driven health care system; ensuring patient access to care and cardiovascular practice stability; promoting the use of clinical data to improve care; fostering research and innovation in cardiovascular care; and improving population health and preventing cardiovascular disease.
Member participation in advocacy efforts is crucial to shaping the future of cardiology. Now is the time to get involved! Find out how you can make a difference by visiting ACC.org/Advocacy or Contact the Illinois Chapter.
