Healthcare

Amends the Substance Use Disorder Act. Creates the State Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders (FASD) Program to provide awareness, prevention, identification, intervention, and service delivery. Sets forth certain activities under the program, including, but not limited to: (i) designating a State FASD coordinator with knowledge and experience in the field of prenatal alcohol exposure and FASD; (ii) utilizing and adapting existing federal or State programs to include FASD identification and FASD-informed support; (iii) developing and expanding screening and diagnostic capacity for FASD; and (iv) providing training with respect to FASD for professionals across relevant sectors. Establishes a FASD State Advisory Committee to provide guidance for the FASD State Program to prevent FASD and provide for the identification, treatment, and support of individuals with FASD and their families. Sets forth certain activities of the committee; committee membership; and committee reporting requirements. Permits the Department of Human Services to contract with or provide grants to public and private nonprofit entities for FASD programs.

Amends the Ambulatory Surgical Treatment Center Act. Removes a provision which provides that, in ambulatory surgical treatment centers, anesthesia service shall be under the direction of a physician who has had specialized preparation or experience in the area or who has completed a residency in anesthesiology. Specifies that, with respect to anesthesia service in an ambulatory surgical treatment center, a certified registered nurse anesthetist shall seek consultation regarding development of an anesthesia plan and treatment of patients as is appropriate to the certified registered nurse anesthetist's level of expertise and scope of practice and as is warranted by the needs of the patient. Removes a requirement that an anesthesiologist participate through discussion of and agreement with the anesthesia plan and remain physically present and be available on the premises. Provides that a certified registered nurse anesthetist with clinical privileges may perform acts of advanced assessment and diagnosis and may provide such functions for which the certified registered nurse anesthetist is educationally and experientially prepared. Makes conforming changes to the Hospital Licensing Act. Amends the Medical Practice Act of 1987. Provides that a written collaborative agreement shall be adequate with respect to collaboration with certified registered nurse anesthetists if all of the following apply: (1) the agreement is written to promote the exercise of professional judgment by the certified registered nurse anesthetist commensurate with his or her education and experience; (2) the certified registered nurse anesthetist provides service based on a written collaborative agreement with the collaborating physician; and (3) methods of communication are available with the collaborating physician in person or through telecommunications for consultation, collaboration, and referral as needed to address patient care needs. Amends the Nurse Practice Act. Provides that an Illinois-licensed advanced practice registered nurse certified as a certified registered nurse anesthetist shall be deemed by law to possess the ability to practice without a written collaborative agreement. Sets forth requirements for a certified registered nurse anesthetist. Makes conforming changes in the Illinois Dental Practice Act. Effective immediately.

Amends the Illinois Insurance Code. Provides that no provision of the Illinois Insurance Code, or any other law, prohibits assignability rights to an insured under any policy of dental insurance (in addition to accident and health insurance). Provides that if an enrollee or insured of an insurer, health maintenance organization, managed care plan, health care plan, preferred provider organization, dental service plan corporation, dental insurer, or third party administrator assigns a claim to a health care professional, or health care facility, a dental care provider, or a dental care facility, then payment shall be made directly to the health care professional, or health care facility, dental care provider, or dental care facility, including any required interest. Effective immediately.

Creates the Complex Wheelchair Right to Repair Act. Provides that, for complex wheelchairs and parts for complex wheelchairs sold or used in the State, an original equipment manufacturer shall make available to an independent repair provider, solely for the purpose of repairing complex wheelchairs, on fair and reasonable terms, any documentation, parts, service access methods, and tools, including, but not limited to, any updates to information, firmware, or embedded software that is needed for purposes of repair of complex wheelchairs and training courses and materials on the operation, inspection, diagnosis, maintenance, and repair of complex wheelchairs. Provides that a violation of any of the provisions of the Act is an unlawful practice under the Consumer Fraud and Deceptive Business Practices Act. Provides for penalties. Provides that nothing in the Act shall require an original equipment manufacturer to divulge a trade secret to an independent repair provider. Amends the Illinois Insurance Code. Prohibits a group or individual policy of accident and health insurance or a managed care plan that is amended, delivered, issued, or renewed on or after January 1, 2026 from requiring a qualified complex rehabilitation technology supplier to obtain any form of prior authorization or any medical documentation to complete repairs for consumer-owned complex rehab technology. Requires coverage for time and labor expenses; travel allowance; and maintenance and repair of a consumer's backup power wheelchair or a rental wheelchair. Provides coverage for preventive maintenance. Amends various Acts to require coverage under those provisions. Amends the Consumer Fraud and Deceptive Business Practices Act to make a conforming change. Effective January 1, 2026.

Amends the Illinois Lottery Law. Provides that the Department of the Lottery shall offer a special Lyme Disease Innovation instant scratch-off game for the benefit of the Lyme Disease Innovation Program with net revenue deposited into the Lyme Disease Awareness Fund. Grants the Department of the Lottery rulemaking powers. Adds references to the Lyme Disease Innovation scratch-off game to various provisions in the Act. Provides that the Department shall offer the game upon the discontinuation of the first game that is discontinued under certain provisions of the law. Amends the Department of Natural Resources (Conservation) Law of the Civil Administrative Code of Illinois. Specifies that the Lyme Disease Innovation Program shall be funded through moneys in the Lyme Disease Awareness Fund, including revenue generated from the Lyme Disease Innovation scratch-off game.

Amends the Illinois Insurance Code. Provides that a group or individual policy of accident and health insurance or a managed care plan that is amended, delivered, issued, or renewed on or after January 1, 2027 that provides coverage for: habilitative services shall provide coverage for habilitative speech therapy as a treatment for stuttering, regardless of whether the stuttering is classified as developmental; rehabilitative services shall provide coverage for rehabilitative speech therapy as a treatment for stuttering; or habilitative services and rehabilitative services shall provide coverage for habilitative speech therapy as a treatment for stuttering, regardless of whether the stuttering is classified as developmental, and shall provide coverage for rehabilitative speech therapy as a treatment for stuttering. Sets forth requirements and limitations for the coverage. Amends the State Employees Group Insurance Act of 1971, the Counties Code, the Illinois Municipal Code, the School Code, the Health Maintenance Organization Act, the Limited Health Service Organization Act, the Voluntary Health Services Plans Act, and the Illinois Public Aid Code to require coverage under those provisions. Amends the State Mandates Act to require implementation without reimbursement. Effective January 1, 2027.

Amends the Illinois Insurance Code. Defines "health benefit plan" and other terms. Provides that a pharmacy benefit manager or an affiliate acting on the pharmacy benefit manager's behalf is prohibited from conducting spread pricing, from steering a covered individual, and from limiting a covered individual's access to prescription drugs from a pharmacy or pharmacist enrolled with the health benefit plan under the terms offered to all pharmacies in the plan coverage area by unreasonably designating the covered prescription drugs as a specialty drug. Provides that a pharmacy benefit manager or an affiliate acting on the pharmacy benefit manager's behalf must remit 100% of rebates and fees to the health benefit plan sponsor, consumer, or employer. Provides that a pharmacy benefit manager may not reimburse a pharmacy or pharmacist for a prescription drug or pharmacy service in an amount less than the national average drug acquisition cost for the prescription drug or pharmacy service at the time the drug is administered or dispensed, plus a professional dispensing fee. Provides that a contract between a pharmacy benefit manager and an insurer or health benefit plan sponsor must allow and provide for the pharmacy benefit manager's compliance with an audit at least once per calendar year of the rebate and fee records remitted from a pharmacy benefit manager or its contracted party to a health benefit plan. Provides that provisions concerning pharmacy benefit manager contracts apply to any health benefit plan (instead of any group or individual policy of accident and health insurance or managed care plan) that provides coverage for prescription drugs and that is amended, delivered, issued, or renewed on or after July 1, 2020. Requires a pharmacy benefit manager to submit an annual report that includes specified information concerning prescription drugs. Makes other changes. Amends the Freedom of Information Act to make a conforming change. Effective July 1, 2025.

Amends the Interagency Children's Behavioral Health Services Act. Requires the Department of Human Services, in coordination with a statewide association representing a majority of hospitals, to establish and offer a voluntary training that will be recorded and made available on the Department's website to all hospital social workers, clinicians, and administrative staff to inform them of BEACON, a centralized resource for Illinois youth and families seeking services for behavioral health needs, with the goal of encouraging families to seek assistance through BEACON and the Interagency Children's Behavioral Health Services Team. Provides that the training shall include how families and hospital staff can access BEACON, the process once a case is entered into BEACON, and State and community programs accessible through BEACON. Amends the Medical Assistance Article of the Illinois Public Aid Code. Requires a psychiatric hospital to contact a youth or the youth's parents, guardian, or caregiver about the BEACON portal (rather than the Family Support Program and the Specialized Family Support Program) prior to referring the youth to the Department of Children and Family Services because the youth was left at the psychiatric hospital beyond medical necessity. Amends the School Code. Requires the State Board of Education, in consultation with the Children's Behavioral Health Transformation Team in the Office of the Governor and relevant stakeholders, to report its work and make available resource materials, including model policies and guidance informed by a phased approach to implementing universal mental health screening in schools. Requires the State Board of Education to report its work by September 1, 2026. Provides that mental health screenings shall be offered by school districts to students enrolled in kindergarten through grade 12, at least once a year, beginning with the 2027-2028 school year.

Amends the Assisted Living and Shared Housing Act, the Nursing Home Care Act, the MC/DD Act, the ID/DD Community Care Act, and the Illinois Public Aid Code. Provides that the administrator of a facility or establishment under any of those Acts shall ensure that the facility or establishment has an automated external defibrillator and policies and procedures for the rendering of automated external defibrillation in the facility or establishment. Provides course requirements for persons certified to provide automated external defibrillation. Provides that a facility or establishment shall contract with or employ a physician who shall be the automated external defibrillation medical director for the facility or establishment and who shall oversee and coordinate specified requirements.

Amends the Personnel Code. Provides that certain provisions related to probationary separation, term appointments, and veterans hospital visits are subject to Jurisdiction B. Changes references to "veterans hospital visits" to references to "veterans medical appointments". Provides that an employee who is also a veteran shall be permitted 4 days per year to receive medical care authorized by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, at any type of health care provider or health care facility (rather than permitted 4 days per year to visit a veterans hospital or clinic), for examination or treatment (rather than for examination) of a military service-connected condition (rather than service-connected disability).