FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
December 31, 1999
FOR INFORMATION CONTACT:
Kelley Elwood, 312/580-6497
Patients' Rights Enacted
Chicago – The Managed Care Reform and Patient Rights Act will take effect on January 1, 2000, extending the rights managed care patients have in obtaining quality health care. To find more information on the new law, patients can access the Illinois State Medical Society’s Web site at www.isms.org.
"This is a great day for our patients," said M. LeRoy Sprang, M.D., ISMS president-elect. "The new law strengthens the patient-physician relationship by curbing managed care abuses and improving the means by which physicians can advocate for needed services."
Included in the law are the right to quality health care, the right to understandable and complete information on managed care plans, the right to freely discuss all treatment options with the physician of the patient’s choice, the right to seek needed emergency care, and the right to external appeal.
"These are basic, essential rights that address concerns expressed by many Illinois patients. Some managed care plans already afford their patients these rights and they will see little change in their activities. For those that think only of the bottom line, however, this legislation requires they refocus their priorities on patient care," said Sprang.
The Illinois State Medical Society (ISMS) was the catalyst behind this law, having pushed for its passage each year since its initial introduction in 1996. Governor George Ryan, Sen. Thomas Walsh (R-La Grange Park), Rep. Mary Flowers (D-Chicago) Rep. Jeffrey Schoenberg (D-Evanston) and Rep. Carolyn Krause (R- Mount Prospect) played important leadership roles in moving this issue forward. Rep. Frank Mautino (D- Spring Valley) and Sen. Walsh sponsored the enacted bill.
ISMS is a professional membership organization representing 16,000 physicians, practicing in all specialties statewide.
ISMS permits and encourages reproduction of ISMS news releases with the request that ISMS is credited as the source of the information.