06/09/2014    Francis J. Rottier, DPM

Illinois Senate Approves Medicaid Expansion Restoring Podiatry

I appreciate the comments of my colleagues Drs.
Borreggine and Dr. Steinberg. The Illinois
Podiatric Medical Association (IPMA) has been
working diligently to restore access to podiatric
care for Medicaid beneficiaries in Illinois since
2012. Our services were eliminated due to the
passage of the Illinois Save Medicaid Resources
Together (SMART )Act. This occurred due to the
fact that we are not a mandated service as defined
under Title XIX. The act initially eliminated
podiatric care to the public relying on Medicaid
for their insurance needs.

The IPMA was invited to testify to legislators and
we explained that eliminating our services would
shift care to more expensive treatment settings
and would result in a delay to the access of care
for these individuals. After our testimony, we
achieved a partial victory and we were able to re-
instate coverage for pediatrics and adults with
diabetes.

We continued to have dialogue with our state
legislators and the Illinois Director of Health
and Family Services to explain the health care
crisis this represented for those in need of our
expertise. The realization that the SMART Act did
not represent a cost savings allowed us to
successfully pass bills in the Illinois House and
Senate to restore our services. The bill is
awaiting the Governor’s signature and the full
scope of our services will be restored in October,
2014 once it is signed.

I would like to thank our Executive Director Dr.
Michael Hriljac and Drs. Jondelle Jenkins, David
Yeager and John Wray for their efforts in helping
us achieve this goal. I would also like to
recognize our legislative consultant Ms. Billie
Paige for her expertise. IPMA is more than happy
to discuss our situation with Dr. Kittay or with
other states that are facing similar concerns.
Please contact Dr. Michael Hriljac at (888) 869-
3338 if you have any questions.

Francis J. Rottier, DPM, President, Illinois
Podiatric Medical Association,
frank_rottier@yahoo.com

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