RENEWAL DEADLINE: Submit Your Hospital Essential Community Provider Status Plan

RENEWAL DEADLINE: Submit Your Hospital Essential Community Provider Status Plan
The federal Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Service (CMS) has been reviewing facilities with Essential Community Provider (ECP) status with the intent of removing that status for any facilities that don't renew their status for plan year 2028. The Illinois Dept. of Insurance recently alerted IHA that several Illinois hospitals remain on the list of facilities that have not completed their ECP status renewal with federal CMS.

If your facility qualifies as an ECP and you wish to be included on the ECP list with federal CMS, you must complete the ECP application and annual renewal form. Using this form, you can add your facility to the ECP List; update information that already appears on the list; confirm your facility information is still accurate; or remove your facility if you no longer wish to receive contract offers. The cutoff for new ECPs, and changes to existing ECPs, to appear on the Final ECP list occurs each year in mid-August. Submissions received between Aug. 14, 2025 and Aug. 12, 2026 will display on the final plan year 2028 ECP list.

Application submission will take an estimated 15-30 minutes, an estimated 10 minutes to report changes, or a few minutes to confirm existing information hasn't changed. CMS will review your submission for eligibility, and if eligible, within four to six weeks CMS will notify your facility through an email confirmation and your facility will appear on the rolling draft ECP list.

Click here to view a fact sheet that provides more information about ECP application and renewal, including qualification standards; benefits of applying and renewal; submission guidance and related materials. Additional FAQs and information can be found at the data.HealthCare.gov ECP application and renewal webpage.

Staff contact: Jordan Powell

IHA Webinar: Evaluating Margin Improvement Initiatives Aug. 18
How can your organization address persistent pressures on operating margins? A complimentary IHA webinar on Aug. 18 will explore the key financial, operational, and market forces impacting operating margins and financial performance. IHA Gold Corporate Sponsor Optum is sponsoring the 1-2 p.m. CT session, with experts from Optum Advisory presenting the webinar.

Leading the session will be Morgan Haines, practice leader for margin transformation, and T.J. Burdine, senior director of finance and operations in the revenue cycle consulting practice. Together, they will guide attendees in:

• Recognizing key financial, operational and market forces-including labor, supply, reimbursement and care delivery shifts-shaping hospital and health system performance;
• Identifying practical, actionable approaches to optimize operations, improve revenue capture, manage costs, and strengthen efficiency to support sustainable financial performance; and
• Determining which initiatives are most likely to deliver meaningful financial results and translating those opportunities into a practical action plan for long-term stability.

The webinar is free for IHA-member hospitals and health systems. The program will be recorded and made available to all registrants. Register today.

Staff contact: Bridget McCarte

New Laws to Protect Older Adults, Children, People with Disabilities and Serious Mental Illness
Gov. JB Pritzker signed a package of legislation last Friday intended to protect some of the most vulnerable Illinoisians. The measures expand safeguards for older adults, people with disabilities, children who are deaf or hard of hearing, and individuals with serious mental illness. A news release said the measures, "promote independence, safeguard against exploitation, improve access to critical services, strengthen oversight, and help ensure Illinoisans receive the support and protection they deserve at every stage of life." Several new laws of interest to the hospital community include:

• HB 1783 : Supporting language development for deaf, hard of hearing, and DeafBlind children (Rep. Mussman/Sen. Cappel), effective immediately.
• HB 4649 : Strengthening protections for older adults experiencing abuse, neglect, or financial exploitation (Rep. Gong-Gershowitz/Sen. Stadelman), effective immediately.
• HB 5365 : Expanding supported decision-making for adults with disabilities and mental health conditions (Rep. Mussman/Sen. Feigenholtz), effective Jan. 1, 2027.

Click here for more information about these and other new laws.

State Back-to-School Sales Tax Holiday
Beginning Aug. 7, Illinoisans can participate in the Back-to-School State Tax Holiday, which waives the state sales tax on back-to-school necessities through Aug. 16. This 10-day period is expected to provide an estimated $10 million in savings to online and in-store consumers on essential back-to-school items, including clothing, footwear, and school supplies. Enacted under the Fiscal Year 2027 state budget package, the Back-to-School sales Tax Holiday reduced prices on clothing to calculators. The 10-day tax holiday seeks to ease rising costs typical of the back-to-school season. During the tax holiday, the state will waive its 5% sales tax on qualifying purchases. Any applicable local sales tax will continue to apply. A complete list of qualifying and non-qualifying items can be found here.

Illinois Respiratory Disease Surveillance Data