Policy changes are said to be underway to reform Illinois' Department of Healthcare and Family Services, indicating the possibility of Medicaid patients gaining extended access to contraceptive products and procedures.
If the proposal is implemented, healthcare providers will be receiving additional funding to provide contraceptive services to patients, including performing vasectomies on men, and providing birth control to women. It may also include new referral procedures that are required by some Roman Catholic providers and other establishments that Express disapproval of contraception. Department Director Julie Hamos expects that most of the implementations could be done this fall, but also said that Medicaid will now begin to provide more coverage for the long-term contraception for patients go obtained these services from some providers like Planned Parenthood clinics. Dir. Hamos said that the changes were nominated after a recent Supreme Court ruling allowed some companies to leave out contraception from the insurance coverage of their employees based on religious grounds. This decision has refocused attention onto the issue of contraception and is what prompted the department to suggest the reform.
Dir. Hamos that these changes could help low-income women with unexpected pregnancies who depend on their employers, or Medicaid, for coverage. She says that, "it is an opportune time when women across the country are paying attention... that's the time that we can really use that attention to focus on what's available to them through Medicaid." Although and at credit cost estimate could not be provided for the proposal, Hamos noted that the federal government reimburses about 90% of Medicaid costs, expecting that this piece of information wanted encourage more healthcare providers to increase their rate of reimbursement and expand contraceptive services. Increased reimbursement is expected on procedures such as vasectomies and insertion of intrauterine devices, as well as for the purchase of nonsurgical sterilization kits.