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Good morning, Healthcare Council. It's a slow start legislatively in Springfield but the Chamber's staff is ready to hit the ground running as we reconvene session this Tuesday. This week marks the start of at least one chamber of the General Assembly being in session every week until April. On to the update!
Director Appointments Continue
The Pritzker administration continues to fill out healthcare leadership positions.
- Sol Flores has been named deputy governor, overseeing human services and healthcare agencies including the Department of Healthcare and Family Services and Department of Human Services. She is the founder of La Casa Norte in Chicago, which provides a variety of social services.
- Theresa Eagleson has been named director of HFS. She previously served as executive director of the University of Illinois' Office of Medicaid Innovation and before that a variety of senior positions at HFS.
As of this morning, no announcements have been made yet regarding Insurance, Human Services or Aging.
Committees Scheduled for the Week
It's a relatively light week for healthcare-related committees, as House committees have yet to be announced.
Senate Public Health has been posted for Tuesday at 1 pm, with the only bill posted being
SB21, Sen. Morrison's legislation which would raise the age to purchase tobacco products to 21.
Bill Introductions
There have been several new healthcare-related bills introduced since our last update. As always, please let me know if your organization is taking positions on any legislation.
IDPH Mandates
HB342 - Bailey -
Amends the Department of Public Health Powers and Duties Law of the Civil Administrative Code of Illinois. Requires the Department of Public Health to create and maintain a list of each immunizing agent derived from aborted fetal tissue and any alternative immunizing agents. Provides that the Department shall ensure that, before administering an immunizing agent derived from aborted fetal tissue to an individual, a health care provider shall provide to the individual or, if the individual is a child, to the parent, guardian, or person in loco parentis of the child: (1) notification that the immunizing agent was derived from aborted fetal tissue; (2) if an immunizing agent that is not an immunizing agent derived from aborted fetal tissue is available as an alternative to an immunizing agent derived from aborted fetal tissue, an offer of the alternative; and (3) notification of the option to decline the receipt of the immunizing agent. Effective immediately.
HB823 - Willis - Amends the Department of Public Health Powers and Duties Law of the Civil Administrative Code of Illinois. Requires the Department of Public Health to ensure that those who draw blood from children and adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities are trained, at least once every 3 years, in the most current method of drawing blood from children and adults with developmental and intellectual disabilities. Provides that the training shall focus on drawing blood in a safe manner that is as comfortable as possible. Requires the Department to ensure that those facilities and providers review their training program at least once within each 3-year period to ensure that the training includes the most current methods available of drawing blood from children and adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities that is safe and comfortable for them and their families. Requires the Department to ensure that by July 1, 2020 all medical facilities are equipped to draw blood from children and adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities using finger-prick equipment, hemoglobin testing equipment, and all other related equipment that can be adapted to serve patients with intellectual and developmental disabilities.
HB907 - Connor -
Amends the Department of Public Health Powers and Duties Law of the Civil Administrative Code of Illinois. Directs the Department to create and maintain an online database and resource page on its website. Provides that the page shall contain mental health resources specifically geared towards school counselors, parents, and teachers with the goal of connecting those people with mental health resources related to bullying and school shootings and encouraging information sharing among educational administrators, school security personnel, and school resource officers. Effective immediately.
Insurance
HB889 - Swanson -
Amends the Illinois Insurance Code. Requires an individual or group policy of accident and health insurance or managed care plan to provide coverage for long-term antibiotic therapy for a person with a tick-borne disease. Makes conforming changes in the Health Maintenance Organization Act and the Illinois Public Aid Code.
SB111 - Morrison -
Amends the Illinois Insurance Code. In provisions concerning coverage for anesthetics provided in conjunction with dental care to an individual diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder, removes the requirement that anesthetics be provided by a dentist licensed under the Illinois Dental Practice Act and changes the age of the individual that treatment shall be covered to under age 26 (rather than under age 19).
Mental Health
HB908 - Carroll -
Creates the Higher Education Mental Health Act. Provides for legislative findings and purposes. Requires the Board of Higher Education to establish the Advisory Commission on Serving and Supporting Students with Mental Health Disabilities in Institutions of Higher Education; provides for the membership and meetings of the Commission. Requires the Commission to conduct a study and prepare reports for the Higher Education Committee of the House of Representatives and the Higher Education Committee of the Senate; specifies the report's requirements. Provides that the Commission is dissolved on the day after it submits its final report. Repeals the Act on June 1, 2023.
Nursing Homes/Long-Term Care
HB369 - Parkhurst -
Amends the Illinois Income Tax Act. Creates an income tax deduction in an amount equal to the out-of-pocket costs incurred by a taxpayer during the taxable year for expenses associated with long-term care for the taxpayer or the taxpayer's family member. Effective immediately.
SB42- Harmon - Creates the Nursing Home Reform Act. Provides that the purposes of the Act include establishing a framework for the provision of care to residents of facilities licensed under the Nursing Home Care Act, ensuring the coordination of regulation and reimbursement, strengthening the provider and employee community, and supporting the highest possible quality of resident-centered services and care. Effective immediately.
PBMs
HB891 - Sosnowski - Amends the Illinois Insurance Code. Creates the Pharmacy Benefits Managers Article. Provides that a pharmacy or pharmacist shall have the right to provide an insured information regarding the amount of the insured's cost share for a prescription drug and that neither a pharmacy nor a pharmacist shall be penalized by a pharmacy benefits manager for discussing certain information or for selling a lower-priced drug to the insured if one is available. Provides that a pharmacy benefits manager shall not, through contract, prohibit a pharmacy from offering and providing direct and limited delivery services to an insured as an ancillary service of the pharmacy, as delineated in the contract between the pharmacy benefits manager and the pharmacy. Provides that a pharmacy benefits manager shall not charge, or attempt to collect from, an insured a copayment that exceeds the total charges submitted by the network pharmacy.
Pharmaceuticals/Sharps
HB349 - Cassidy -
Creates the Drug and Sharps Waste Stewardship Act. Directs the Environmental Protection Agency to administer a drug and sharps waste stewardship program. Provides that the State Board of Pharmacy is to guide and advise the Agency in its administration of the program. Requires covered entities to provide lists of covered and not covered products to the State Board and to implement stewardship plans. Requires stewardship plans to be submitted to the Agency for review and acceptance. Requires that all counties have at least one collection site for unused drugs and sharps per 50,000 people, and no fewer than 5 such collection sites. Requires counties that do not have the necessary number of collection sites to establish a mail-back program, or alternative collection program for covered products, or both. Imposes an administrative fee on covered entities. Provides penalties for covered entities that fail to comply with the provisions of the Act. Creates the Drug and Sharps Stewardship Fund and the Drug and Sharps Stewardship Penalty Account within the Fund. Directs the Agency to post lists of compliant covered entities on its website. Exempts stewardship programs already in existence under local ordinances at the time the Act takes effect from the Act's provisions, but provides that those entities with programs that are not within the Act's purview are not to receive any monetary support from the Drug and Sharps Stewardship Fund or the Drug and Sharps Stewardship Penalty Account. Exempts confidential proprietary information from public disclosure by the Agency.
Emergency Medical Services
HB365 - Jones -
Amends the Emergency Medical Services (EMS) Systems Act. Provides that the Department of Public Health shall perform annual background checks of all licensees and notify licensees and related EMS System administrators of any convictions by a court of competent jurisdiction of (or entry of a plea of guilty or nolo contendere to) a Class X, Class 1, or Class 2 felony, or an out-of-State equivalent offense. Provides that the Department shall require all medical assisted transport providers to be licensed by the Department and establish staffing, licensing, safety, and training standards. Amends the Illinois Public Aid Code. Includes medical assisted transportation in the definition of "ambulance service". Provides rates of reimbursement and assistance for medical transport services. Amends the State Finance Act. Adds the Medical Assisted Transport Licensure Fund as a special fund. Makes other changes.
JCAR Update
There have been no new healthcare-related rules proposed since our last update.
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