(a)Families of children with insurance coverage, whether public or private, shall incur no greater or less direct out-of-pocket expenses for early intervention services than families who are not insured.
(b)Managed care plans.
(1)Use of managed care network providers. When a family's insurance coverage is through a managed care arrangement with a network of providers that includes one or more types of early intervention specialists who provide the services set forth in the family's individualized family service plan, the regional intake entity shall require the family to use those network providers, but only to the extent that:
(A)the network provider is immediately available to receive the referral and to begin providing services to the child;
(B)the network provider is enrolled as a
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(a) Families of children with insurance coverage, whether public or private, shall incur no greater or less direct out-of-pocket expenses for early intervention services than families who are not insured. (b) Managed care plans. (1) Use of managed care network providers. When a family's insurance coverage is through a managed care arrangement with a network of providers that includes one or more types of early intervention specialists who provide the services set forth in the family's individualized family service plan, the regional intake entity shall require the family to use those network providers, but only to the extent that: (A) the network provider is immediately available to receive the referral and to begin providing services to the child; (B) the network provider is enrolled as a provider in the Illinois early intervention system and fully credentialed under the current policy or rule of the lead agency; (C) the network provider can provide the services to the child in the manner required in the individualized service plan; (D) the family would not have to travel more than an additional 15 miles or an additional 30 minutes to the network provider than it would have to travel to a non-network provider who is available to provide the same service; and (E) the family's managed care plan does not allow for billing (even at a reduced rate or reduced percentage of the claim) for early intervention services provided by non-network providers. (2) Transfers from non-network to network providers. If a child has been receiving services from a non-network provider and the regional intake entity determines, at the time of enrollment in the early intervention program or at any point thereafter, that the family is enrolled in a managed care plan, the regional intake entity shall require the family to transfer to a network provider within 45 days after that determination, but within no more than 60 days after the effective date of this Act, if: (A) all the requirements of subdivision (b)(1) of this Section have been met; and (B) the child is less than 26 months of age. (3) Waivers. The lead agency may fully or partially waive the network enrollment requirements of subdivision (b)(1) of this Section and the transfer requirements of subdivision (b)(2) of this Section as to a particular region, or narrower geographic area, if it finds that the managed care plans in that area are not allowing further enrollment of early intervention providers and it finds that referrals or transfers to network providers could cause an overall shortage of early intervention providers in that region of the State or could cause delays in families securing the early intervention services set forth in individualized family services plans. (4) The lead agency, in conjunction with any entities with which it may have contracted for the training and credentialing of providers, the local interagency council for early intervention, the regional intake entity, and the enrolled providers in each region who wish to participate, shall cooperate in developing a matrix and action plan that (A) identifies both (i) which early intervention providers and which fully credentialed early intervention providers are members of the managed care plans that are used in the region by families with children in the early intervention program, and (ii) which early intervention services, with what restrictions, if any, are covered under those plans, (B) identifies which credentialed specialists are members of which managed care plans in the region, and (C) identifies the various managed care plans to early intervention providers, encourages their enrollment in the area plans, and provides them with information on how to enroll. These matrices shall be complete no later than 7 months after the effective date of this Act, and shall be provided to the Early Intervention Legislative Advisory Committee at that time. The lead agency shall work with networks that may have closed enrollment to additional providers to encourage their admission of early intervention providers, and shall report to the Early Intervention Legislative Advisory Committee on the initial results of these efforts no later than February 1, 2002.