The state has received the funds to help to improve the complaints system regarding industry practices.
Illinois is making insurance news now that it has received a grant from the federal government worth $1 million, which will be used to help the state to improve the way that it provides consumers with assistance when they are seeking to file complaints about the way that the industry functions.
The announcement was made by Andrew Boron, the director of the Illinois 
Department of Insurance.
When Boron made the announcement, he explained that the funding was being received through an element of the Affordable Care Act, President Obama’s healthcare reforms that started being implemented in 2010. This national health care law, which has made steady insurance headlines for many years, is now starting to issue grants to states in order to help them to comply with the changes that it requires in order to make coverage more available and affordable to all Americans.
The department will be using the funds to add insurance news and tools to their website.
The intention is to provide consumers with a number of different kinds of information and online tools so that they will be able to receive answers to the questions that they have, and understand their rights in terms of their health plans. According to Boron’s insurance news release, this upgrade to the system will offer a larger number of businesses and families the access they need to important and useful information.
The announcement about this grant also said that it will help with interaction with consumers.
The department’s director explained that the additional funds will assist Illinois in being able to provide its residents with increased interaction when they have had their claims denied by their health plans. This news follows efforts that the department has already made in order to assist consumers in filing appeals as well as to make requests for additional external reviews when their coverage has been dropped by a health insurer. The same is true when a policyholder experiences a payment on a claim that has been denied.
