FIRST PUBLIC HEARING OF HEALTH CARE JUSTICE ACT TO BE HELD

FIRST PUBLIC HEARING OF HEALTH CARE JUSTICE ACT TO BE HELD

SPRINGFIELD , Ill. – The first public hearing required by the Health Care Justice Act will be held in the First Congressional District on October 5 at Trinity United Church of Christ, 400 W. 95 th St., Chicago.

The Health Care Justice Act, which was signed into law last year by Gov. Rod R. Blagojevich, created a 29-member Adequate Health Care Task Force charged with developing a comprehensive health care access plan.

The Act requires the task force to hold public hearings in each of Illinois’ 19 congressional districts to seek public input on the development of the access plan. The state representatives and senators located in each congressional district will be invited to participate in the hearing in that district and to help gather input from interested parties.

At the hearing in the First Congressional District, which will be held from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m., the public is invited to give testimony regarding access to, and quality and affordability of health care. Each individual will have three minutes to testify and will testify in the order in which they sign up.

Those who wish to submit written testimony may do so in three ways:

By mail – Please mail your written testimony (typed, double-spaced, 8.5” x 11” paper) to Tracy Morgan, Illinois Department of Public Health, Division of Health Policy, 525 W. Jefferson St., Springfield, IL 62761.
In-person – Please bring two copies of your written testimony (typed, double-spaced, 8.5” x 11” paper) to the public hearing and submit to staff signing up those who wish to testify.
Electronically – Please email your written testimony (as an attachment) to Tracy Morgan, Illinois Department of Public Health, Division of Health Policy at tmorgan@idph.state.il.us.

The task force’s plan must provide all Illinois residents with access to a full-range of preventive, acute and long-term health care services. The Act requires recommendations to be submitted to the General Assembly when the task force completes its work in 2006.