A growing number of lawmakers think the Illinois Department of Healthcare and Family Services jumped the gun by unveiling a new plan to enroll approximately 40,000 elderly and disabled Medicaid beneficiaries in a managed care HMO. Since State Rep. Linda Chapa LaVia (D-Aurora) filed a bill (HB 5086) that would throw the brakes on the plan and create a task force to analyze its merits instead, she's picked up five co-sponsors. They include influential legislators like Rep. Naomi D. Jakobsson (D-Champaign), chairwoman of Human Services committee, and Rep. Esther Golar (D-Chicago), chairwoman of the House Disability Services Committee. 

There are plenty of reasons to be wary of mandatory private managed care reforms. Hopefully, the problems with this approach will be discussed this morning when the bill faces a hearing in the House Medicaid Reform, Family, Children Services committee.