Healthcare

Amends the End-of-Life Options for Terminally Ill Patients Act. Expands and clarifies definitions. Requires a mandatory mental health evaluation for all patients requesting medical aid in dying. Strengthens informed consent standards and adds a referral to an Ombudsman when financial concerns influence patient choice. Revises attending and consulting physician duties to include enhanced counseling, documentation, and disclosure requirements. Adds explicit safeguards against coercion or undue influence. Requires detailed recordkeeping and safe disposal of unused medication with reporting to the Department of Public Health. Broadens immunity provisions for good-faith compliance and clarifies protections for physicians present at self-administration. Establishes a Medical Aid-in-Dying Ombudsman Program within the Department of Public Health with authority to review compliance, investigate complaints, and operate a secure reporting portal and hotline. Imposes comprehensive reporting requirements on physicians and directs the Department to publish annual statistical reports with de-identified demographic and clinical data. Prohibits solicitation of medical aid-in-dying services. Mandates training for participating health care professionals on abuse prevention, bias recognition, and disability-competent care. Revises insurance provisions to ensure coverage parity for hospice and palliative care, restricts insurer communications, and clarifies that self-administration does not affect life or health insurance benefits. Provides that a qualified patient's act of self-administering medication shall be indicated on the death certificate (rather than shall not be indicated on the death certificate).

Amends the Medical Assistance Article of the Illinois Public Aid Code. Provides that any person who was initially determined to be eligible for medical assistance and is receiving institutional services or home and community-based services as authorized under the Article shall be presumed eligible for a continuation of coverage for such services during any redetermination process, unless the person experiences a material change in financial circumstances that results in the loss of eligibility. Requires any person who experiences a material change in financial circumstances that results in the loss of eligibility to notify the Department of Healthcare and Family Services. Permits the Department to conduct a redetermination of eligibility. Requires the Department to notify the person before the commencement of any redetermination and after the redetermination is concluded along with the results of the redetermination and the effective date of any eligibility change. Requires the Department to seek federal authorization, no later than January 1, 2028, to exempt persons with disabilities who are otherwise eligible for medical assistance from annual eligibility redeterminations, except that a full redetermination shall be conducted at least once every 5 years, regardless of whether a material change in financial circumstances has occurred.

Amends the Unified Code of Corrections. Provides that the Department of Corrections shall create and implement, on January 1, 2027, a pilot program to establish the effectiveness of long-acting injectable medications for opioid use disorders for persons committed to its custody who suffer from opioid use disorders. Provides that the pilot program shall require long-acting injectable medications for opioid use disorders to be used in at least one Department of Corrections facility. Provides that the Director may expand the pilot program to include an additional facility or facilities as he or she deems appropriate. Provides that a minimum of 4,000 administrations of long-acting injectable medications for opioid use disorders shall be included in the pilot program. Provides that the Department shall develop a plan to facilitate access to continued treatment for opioid use disorders in the community following the release of a person participating in the pilot program, including, but not limited to, a referral to a harm reduction provider. Provides that the Department must report to the General Assembly on the effectiveness of the program by January 1, 2028. Effective immediately.

Amends the County Department of Corrections Division of the Counties Code, the Unified Code of Corrections, and the County Jail Act. Provides that, upon the release of a prisoner or committed person from a county correctional institution, county jail, or Department of Corrections correctional institution or facility, the sheriff, warden, or Department shall provide the prisoner or committed person with an opioid antagonist if the prisoner was incarcerated for drug-related charges or was identified as having a substance use disorder.

Amends the Assisted Living and Shared Housing Act. Provides that the Department of Public Health shall allow assisted living establishments and supportive living establishments to provide an approved course of training for certified nursing assistants at the establishment, so long as the training meets the requirements of the Nursing Home Care Act and rules adopted by the Department. Sets forth provisions concerning the supervised clinical training portion of the training program. Provides that the Department shall adopt rules requiring that the Health Care Worker Registry include information identifying where an individual received clinical training and may amend specified rules as necessary to implement the certified nursing assistant training program.

Amends the Birth Control Services to Minors Act. Provides that any minor may give effective consent for contraceptive services or supplies and the consent of no other person is required. Provides that for such purposes, a minor is deemed to have the same legal capacity to act and has the same powers and obligations as a person of legal age.

Creates the Protective Medical Equipment Freedom Act. Provides that all individual in the State have the right to wear protective medical equipment in any place of public accommodation where they have a lawful right to be without obligation to disclose health status or any other protected information, and no person, entity, or authority shall deny, restrict, or infringe upon this right. Provides that operators and public officials shall not discriminate against or penalize medical device wearers for exercising their right to wear protective medical equipment. Provides that discrimination under the Act includes, but is not limited to: denial of service; eviction from premises; any form of harassment to remove or refrain from wearing such equipment for any amount of time; specified actions taken by employers; and provision of unequal goods, services, facilities, advantages, or accommodations. Sets forth provisions concerning the protection against retaliation, the exceptions for security requirements, operational safety, age and identity restricted products, and financial institution customer identification, and an undue hardship exemption. Effective immediately.

Amends the Medical Assistance Article of the Illinois Public Aid Code. Requires the Department of Healthcare and Family Services to authorize coverage for screening by low-dose mammography for the presence of occult breast cancer for individuals 25 (rather than 35) years of age or older who are otherwise eligible for medical assistance. Requires the Department to convene 2 separate expert panels to review quality standards for mammography and establish quality standards for breast cancer treatment. Provides that subject to Department approval, rate methodology for screening and diagnostic mammography shall be based on the quality standards established by the expert panels and State qualified ACR Designated Comprehensive Breast Imaging Centers (formerly known as Breast Imaging Centers of Excellence). Requires the expert panels to establish a comprehensive and clinical methodology to inform women who are age-appropriate for screening mammography, but who have not received a mammogram within the previous 18 months, of the importance and benefits of screening mammography. Provides that within 2 years after the completion of a pilot program providing case-managing or patient navigation services for women diagnosed with breast cancer, the Department shall establish as a permanent initiative the Patient Assistance for Beneficiaries Diagnosed with Breast Cancer. Requires the Department to submit annual reports to the General Assembly detailing program outcomes, financial expenditures, and any recommendations for adjustments to maintain or enhance the program's effectiveness. Requires the Department to establish or facilitate training and continuing education opportunities specific to breast health and mammography for radiologists. Makes other changes. Effective immediately.

Amends the Mental Health and Developmental Disabilities Code. Provides that whenever psychotropic medication or electroconvulsive therapy is refused under a specified provision at least once that day, the psychiatrist or advanced practice psychiatric nurse (instead of the physician) shall determine and state in writing the reasons why the recipient did not meet the criteria for the administration of medication or electroconvulsive therapy and whether the recipient meets the standard for administration of psychotropic medication or electroconvulsive therapy under a provision concerning the administration of psychotropic medication and electroconvulsive therapy upon application to a court. Provides that a petition requesting that the court authorize treatment with psychotropic medication shall specify the full names of the medications and anticipated range of dosage that comprise such treatment. Provides that no administration of psychotropic medication or electroconvulsive therapy without the informed consent of the recipient may be authorized unless at least one psychiatrist or advanced practice psychiatric nurse who has examined the recipient testifies in person at the hearing. Makes other changes to definitions and provisions concerning administration of psychotropic medication and electroconvulsive therapy upon application to a court.

Amends the Children's Mental Health Act. In provisions concerning the Children's Mental Health Partnership, makes changes to the Partnership's list of duties to include (i) reviewing or facilitating needs assessments (rather than conducting research assessments) to better understand the challenges and gaps of programs, services, and policies related to children's mental health; (ii) monitoring policy development related to children's mental health in Illinois at the local, State, and federal level; and (iii) regularly reviewing aggregate and de-identified data on the need for children's behavioral health services in Illinois that is collected by the Behavioral Health Care and Ongoing Navigation (BEACON) portal to ensure that system transformation can continue to be driven by data. Provides that the Partnership's membership shall include public members who reflect a diversity of sexual orientation; and that all Partnership members shall serve without compensation and with no entitlement to reimbursement for expenses incurred in the performance of their duties. Removes a provision permitting the Partnership to convene study groups. Expands the membership of the adjunct council to include up to 10 youth aged 16 to 25 (rather than up to 6 youth aged 14 to 25) and up to 4 (rather than a minimum of 4) representatives of 4 different community-based organizations that focus on youth mental health. Makes other changes.