AGENDA and MINUTES - Pillar 3 Subcommittee meeting December 4, 2024

Commission on Poverty Elimination and Economic Security

Subcommittee on Pillar 3: Ensure Just and Equitable Access to Economic Security Programs

Meeting Agenda and Minutes

Wednesday, December 4, 2024, 12:00-1:00 PM

Recording

Subcommittee members in attendance:

  1. Sophie Milam - Chair
  2. Audra Wilson - Poverty Commission member
  3. Kimberly Tate - Representing Senator Kimberly Lightford, Commission member
  4. Rev. Dwight Ford - Poverty Commission member
  5. Marc Staley - IWGP member
  6. Carrie Thomas - IWGP member
  7. Dana Kelly - IWGP member
  8. Meegan Dugan Adell - public member
  9. Misuzu Schexnider - public member
  10. Niya Kelly - public member
  11. David Wortman - public member
  12. Donna Henry - public member

Administrator: Priya Khatkhate, IDHS-Chief Policy Officer

Facilitators:

  1. Kaitlin Devaney - Institute of Research on Race and Public Policy (IRRPP)

Agenda:

  1. Welcome/Roll Call
    • Introduction of new member: Rev. Dwight Ford
  2. Public Comment - subject to written comment in advance
  3. Approval of Meeting Minutes: August 2, 2024
  4. Presentation: State-based Marketplace - Dana Kelly/Laura Phelan, HFS
  5. Development/Review of FY25 Goals
  6. Establishing a regular cadence of meetings
  7. Next Steps
  8. Adjournment

Minutes:

  1. Welcome/Roll Call - members introduced themselves in the chat.
    • Introduction of new member: Rev. Dwight Ford, Project NOW
  2. Public Comment - subject to written comment in advance; none received.
  3. Approval of Meeting Minutes: August 2, 2024 - Chair Milam moved to approve the August 2, 2024 minutes seconded by Niya Kelly. The group unanimously approved the August 2, 2024 meeting minutes.
  4. Update on New America Project on Tax Credit with IDOR and IDHS - Meegan Dugan Adell
    • The goal is to figure out a solution to ensure that people who are receiving benefits have a smoother and less time-consuming process for getting their tax credits.
    • A design sprint has been completed and currently working on the findings and products from the design sprint.
    • An in-person listening session was done in St. Louis with low-income parents who are receiving benefits to get their feedback and learn what would help them utilize a tax credit program. Interviews were also done in the Chicago Metro area. New America is processing the findings and pulling together a presentation for IDHS and IDOR.
    • One of the goals of the listening session was to understand at what point in the process, either during application or redetermination, would it be best for people to enter the tax credit program i.e. get permission for people to be part of the program and get the needed information. Most of the participants said they would like to enter the program around October and November when tax return people start reaching out to them about getting an advance on their tax returns.
    • Both IDHS and IDOR have said that they would have more ability to participate in a technical sprint and New America will likely start the technical sprint in January and results are expected in March or April.
    • Meegan can do a presentation on the findings from the listening session in the next quarter's meeting.
  5. Presentation: State-based Marketplace - Dana Kelly, Chief of Staff, HFS
    • HFS is working in partnership with the Department of Insurance and IDHS to build a state-based marketplace.
    • Illinois is currently a participant in the federal healthcare.gov marketplace which supports a number of states who don't have their own state-based marketplace.
    • More decisions about coverage and subsidy can be made if the state had its own marketplace.
    • Open enrolment is currently underway (started November 1st and will end December 31st), Illinois is still part of the federal marketplace, but transition has started. The state-based marketplace won't be launched officially until the next enrolment period which will start November 1st, 2025.
    • Some items that have been transitioned include navigators who work across the state who are originally federal grantees are now state grantees with HFS in partnership with DOI. They provide navigation services even during the open enrolment period to help people get enrolled in coverage from a Medicaid perspective and also identifies those who need to work with IDHS on Medicaid enrolment.
    • The state currently devotes $6.5 million across seven different providers that hire navigators. Navigators get a lot of training on the marketplace platform, different eligibility types and on the Medicaid system to enable them navigate people through applications and ensure that they are able to follow thru with everything to secure coverage. There are no eligibility requirements to access navigator services.
    • HFS currently has a contract for the creation of the state-based marketplace which is called Get Insured and they are currently working on Medicaid. Medicaid currently shares files with the federal marketplace; if somebody applies for Medicaid and isn't eligible but is eligible in the marketplace, the person will be referred to the federal marketplace and will receive some level of navigation and vice versa - when the federal marketplace receives an application that is Medicaid eligible, they sent it to the state and the state processes the enrolment. This connection has to be rebuilt in the new state-based platform.
    • DOI houses the director the marketplace, Morgan Winters from Minnesota and hired a lot of people to build the marketplace. HFS also hired its own state-based marketplace director, Stephanie Bucker who is from Shriver Center on Poverty Law.
    • When the state adopts the state-based marketplace, the state will get a per user credit from the federal government i.e. the feds will pay the state per user or person that joins the state-based marketplace.
    • As to whether Medicaid enrolment will be moved from ABE to the state-based marketplace, the state has not committed to it yet due to the enormity of the decision and the level of the complexity of the task. Ultimately, the communication between programs, not just in the technology but with things like call centers will have to be streamlined.
    • Ms. Schexnider asked if there is a way to streamline enrolment into the state-based marketplace using income tax returns which Ms. Kelly will have to ask to Mr. Morgan Winters and his team.
    • Ms. Adell asked if there is a possibility for the call center workers to have training on referring people to other programs that they might be eligible for. Ms. Kelly said there could be opportunities and it could be available when HFS starts working with the vendor on the training requirements.
  6. Establishing a regular cadence of meetings - schedule for the quarterly meetings for FY25 will be sent in advance, either late this year or early January so the group has it on their calendars in advance.
  7. Adjournment - Dir. Staley moved to adjourn the meeting seconded by Ms. Thomas. The group unanimously agreed to adjourn the meeting at 12:54 PM.