Lindsey LaPointe

Amends the Medical Assistance Article of the Illinois Public Aid Code. Provides that the Department of Healthcare and Family Services must incorporate minimum standards governing behavioral health pre-payment and post-payment reviews into MCO contracts effective for all services covered on and after January 1, 2027. Requires the Department to develop or adopt behavioral health-specific pre-payment and post-payment review guidelines and incorporate such guidelines by reference into MCO contracts. Provides that the Department-issued guidelines must: (1) define the documentation and clearly specify the discrete data elements that may be requested prior to and during a pre-payment or post-payment review, and applicable response timeframes, ensuring that all requests are specific, reasonable, and directly tied to the review objectives; (2) identify regulatory, statutory, and contractual standards applicable to behavioral health services; (3) establish uniform evaluation criteria and checklists; and (4) be publicly available and updated as necessary. Contains provisions on MCO contracts and required contract terms; pre-payment and post-payment review processes and notice requirements; timeframes for providers to respond to a documentation request; communication protocols; contract transparency and extrapolation from a statistical sampling of claims; the timeliness and closure of claims reviews; submission methods; reviewer qualifications; and enforcement. Effective immediately.