To alleviate obstacles to affordable and accessible healthcare in Central Illinois, State Senator Doris Turner is calling on the governor’s office to use its statutory authority to defend people’s right to accessible and affordable healthcare. 

A lot of the issues have stemmed from Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Illinois cutting Springfield Clinic from its network, taking away coverage from more than 55,000 customers who are still struggling to find new doctors or file continuity of care requests with Blue Cross.  

Senator Turner says residents in the Springfield area have the right to affordable and accessible healthcare, and a year later, she’s still hearing from families, businesses, and individuals that matters are getting worse.  Senator Turner also sent a letter to the governor’s office asking for remedies and for the Governor to take quick action regarding BCBSIL’s provider directory and failure to meet network adequacy regulations or prohibit the company from selling inadequate plans for next year. 

The governor’s administration did levy a $339,000 fine against BCBSIL however, there isn’t a solution in place to address inadequate coverage, long wait times, and forcing residents to pay for essential services out of pocket. 

Senator Turner is asking the administration to work swiftly to settle this issue to give residents of Central Illinois access to affordable healthcare.