Peoria Standard

State Rep. Norrine Hammond (R-Macomb) is breathing a sigh of relief now that House Bill 357 has easily moved to its next step in the legislative process.

“House Bill 357 extends the time frame to submit long-term Medicaid applications to the state from 45 days to 120 days in order to give everyone working on the application time to acquire the documents and submit the correct information,” Hammond said during recent House debate on the matter leading to it passing by a vote of 110 to 0. “I would like to acknowledge and thank Chairwoman (Camille) Lilly (D-Chicago) for her patience and her assistance in getting this bill to this point. I would appreciate an aye vote.”

At its core, HB 357amends the Medical Assistance Article of the Illinois Public Aid Code to provide that within four months of “receipt by a long-term care facility of required prescreening information, new admissions with associated admission documents shall be submitted through the Medical Electronic Data Interchange or the Recipient Eligibility Verification System or shall be submitted directly to the Department of Human Services using required admission forms.”