Rep. Tracy Katz Muhl

Amends the Medical Assistance Article of the Illinois Public Aid Code. Requires the Department of Healthcare and Family Services to adopt rules that require managed care organizations (MCOs) to utilize a universal provider application developed by a council for affordable quality healthcare, as defined, for the purpose of credentialing a health care professional or a health care provider who seeks to participate in an MCO's provider network. Provides that the rules shall also require the use of a CAQH application for the renewal of credentials; and that the Department may revise the CAQH universal provider application or the application for renewal of credentials to conform to industry or national standards for credentialing health care professionals or health care providers. Provides that within 180 days after the adoption of rules, health and dental plan carriers must accept the universal provider application and the application for the renewal of credentials approved by the Department. Requires all MCOs to provide a provider network consultant to act as a liaison between a health care provider and the MCO. Require the Department to employ provider enrollment consultants to assist health care providers with enrollment in the Illinois Medicaid Program Advanced Cloud Technology system, help navigate the enrollment and provider credentialing process by serving as the liaison between health care providers and MCOs, and other matters. Amends the Illinois Insurance Code. In provisions concerning recoupments, requires a health care professional or health care provider to be provided a remittance advice that includes an explanation of a recoupment or offset taken by a managed care organization. Removes provisions permitting insurers contracted with the Department of Healthcare and Family Services to recoup or offset payments due to a federal Medicaid requirement. Provides that no contract between an MCO and health care professional or provider may provide for recoupments in violation of the Code. Effective January 1, 2027.

Creates the Food Reform to Ensure Student Health Act. Requires each school district in the State to begin to eliminate ultraprocessed foods of concern and restricted school foods by July 1, 2029. Provides that, beginning July 1, 2032, a vendor may not offer to a school either an ultraprocessed food of concern or a restricted school food. Requires food vendors to report to the Department of Public Health certain information about ultraprocessed foods of concern and restricted school foods that they have sold to schools. Requires the Department, in consultation with the State Board of Education, to submit to the General Assembly and Governor annual summary reports of the data submitted to it by food vendors. Directs the Department to post these reports on its website. Requires the Department of Public Health to adopt rules establishing definitions of the terms "ultraprocessed foods of concern" and "restricted school foods" for purposes of these requirements. Requires the Department to review those rules and, if needed, update them every 5 years. Requires the Department to consult with the State Board of Education and to provide compliance training for school food service and procurement staff. Describes the topics to be covered by the Department in the training. Provides for the repeal of the Act on January 1, 2034. Amends the State Mandates Act to require implementation without reimbursement.

Amends the Civil Administrative Code of Illinois. Provides that the Board of Review within the Department of Employment Security shall consist of 3 members (rather than 5 members). Sets forth provisions concerning the compensation and support of members of the Board of Review. Amends the Unemployment Insurance Act. Provides that each member of the Board of Review shall review the record and certify that fact in each final determination made by the Board of Review.

Creates the Limitations on Facility Fees Act. Provides that no health care provider shall charge, bill, or collect a facility fee, except for: (i) services provided on a hospital's campus; (ii) services provided at a facility that includes a licensed hospital emergency department; or (iii) emergency services provided at a freestanding emergency center. Provides that, except as specified, no health care provider shall charge, bill, or collect a facility fee for: (i) outpatient evaluation and management services; or (ii) any other outpatient, diagnostic, or imaging services identified by the Department of Public Health. Requires the Department to annually identify services subject to the limitations on specified facility fees that may reliably be provided safely and effectively in settings other than hospitals. Sets forth provisions concerning reporting, rulemaking, and enforcement of the Act. Amends the Fair Patient Billing Act to make a conforming change. Amends the Consumer Fraud and Deceptive Business Practices Act. Provides that any person who violates the Limitations on Facility Fees Act commits an unlawful practice.

Amends the Property Tax Code. Provides that a municipality that is authorized to levy and collect a tax for the purpose of maintaining, constructing, or replacing sanitary sewers may provide that those taxes shall be collected on behalf of the municipality as part of the taxpayer's property tax bill. Provides that sanitary sewer taxes collected in that manner shall not be considered part of any taxing district's aggregate extension for the purpose of the Property Tax Extension Limitation Law. Effective immediately.

Amends the Public Utilities Act. Provides that every cable or video provider operating in the State shall issue a prorated bill credit to consumers for any service outage lasting more than one hour. Provides that the credit shall be calculated based on the consumer's monthly service rate, prorated for the duration of the outage, and that the credit shall be automatically applied to the consumer's next billing cycle without requiring any action or request from the consumer. Requires cable or video providers to notify consumers of the outage and the applied credit within 24 hours after the restoration of service. Provides that internet providers and cable or video providers shall maintain records of all outages and corresponding bill credits issued for a minimum period of 3 years. Provides that the records shall be made available to the Illinois Commerce Commission upon request for the purpose of ensuring compliance with the Act. Provides that any cable or video provider that fails to issue the required bill credits in accordance with the outage provisions shall be subject to penalties as determined by the Commission. Provides that, if, due to a contract dispute, a cable or video provider will not be providing a consumer with a channel for which the consumer has been or will be billed, the cable or video provider shall, within 10 days after the cable or video provider knows that the contract dispute will result in the loss of the channel, provide each affected consumer with notice that the channel will not be provided due to a contract dispute. Provides that, if a cable or video provider does not provide a consumer with a channel for which the consumer has been billed, then the cable or video provider shall credit the consumer an amount equal to the percentage of the consumer's bill that the channel represents multiplied by the consumer's monthly service rate, which shall be prorated for each hour that the consumer was not provided with that channel due to a contract dispute. Requires that the credit be applied on the statement issued to the consumer for the next monthly billing cycle.

Creates the Rental Age Protection Act. Provides that it is unlawful for an automobile rental company to refuse to rent a motor vehicle to any person 18 years of age or older on the basis of age if insurance coverage for a person of that age is available. Provides that an automobile rental company may not charge a person any extra costs for insurance based solely on the age of the person renting the motor vehicle. Provides that it is unlawful for a lodging establishment to refuse to rent a room to any person 18 years of age or older on the basis of age or charge a person a higher rate than the regular rate charged to rent a room on the basis of age. 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. Defines terms. Amends the Renter's Financial Responsibility and Protection Act to remove provisions concerning minimum age requirements. Amends the Consumer Fraud and Deceptive Business Practices Act to make a conforming change.

Amends the Illinois Insurance Code. Provides that any individual or group policy of accident or health insurance that is delivered, extended, renewed, or modified after January 1, 2026 must provide coverage for at least one 6-month supply of each of the following for each infant covered by the policy: an early egg allergen introduction dietary supplement prescribed by a health care practitioner; and an early peanut allergen introduction dietary supplement prescribed by a health care practitioner. Provides that the coverage shall be provided without cost-sharing, except to the extent the cost-sharing limitation would cause a catastrophic plan to fail to be treated as a catastrophic plan under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act or would keep a high-deductible health plan from being treated as a high-deductible health plan or to the extent the cost-sharing limitation would disqualify the plan from a health savings account. Amends the State Employees Group Insurance Act of 1971 and the Medical Assistance Article of the Illinois Public Aid Code to require that coverage. Effective immediately.

Amends the Substance Use Disorder Act. Requires the Department of Human Services to establish a mechanism to collect research and data regarding overdose prevention sites (OPSs) and prepare a report for the General Assembly within 12 months after the effective date of the amendatory Act. Provides that the report shall contain information on (1) current research on the effectiveness of an OPS as an overdose prevention strategy; (2) OPS best practices for staffing, placement, and activities; and (3) the benefits and challenges of different OPS models - structures and settings. Requires the Department, in collaboration with people with lived experience, to develop a pilot service, subject to available funding, aimed at saving the lives of people who use substances that shall include the establishment of at least one OPS. Requires the pilot OPSs to offer people, who are most likely to use drugs in public, unobserved, high-risk, and unsanitary locations, a safe space to use pre-obtained substances and connect to community supports or other existing treatment and recovery programs, harm reduction services, and health care. Contains provisions concerning certain principles pilot OPSs must abide by; OPS staffing and location requirements; pilot OPS services; and other matters. Permits the Department to approve an entity to operate a pilot program in one or more jurisdictions. Grants criminal and civil immunity to persons who use pilot OPSs services; pilot OPS staff; and any real property owner upon which the OPS site is located or operates. Contains provisions on public awareness outreach; OPS reporting requirements; home rule exemption; and other matters. Effective immediately.

Amends the Regional Planning Act. Creates the Northeastern Illinois Water Governance Advisory Committee within the Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning. Describes membership of the Committee. Provides that, no later than May 31, 2027, the Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning, the Metropolitan Planning Organization, and the Northeastern Illinois Water Governance Advisory Committee shall develop and submit a report of legislative recommendations to the Governor and General Assembly regarding the sufficiency, management, and governance of water in Northeastern Illinois. Provides that the report shall include (1) the projected water use needs in the region through 2075, including any projected growth in water demand owing to residential, industrial, agricultural, or commercial development; (2) the adequacy of currently available water sources and infrastructure to meet projected water use needs in the region; (3) the risks to water security in the region, including any risks from climate change, groundwater depletion, biological or technological interference, increased drawdown from water intensive manufacturing, infrastructure failure within community water supplies, infrastructure failure across water supplies, and other risks as deemed appropriate; (4) existing data that the State collects related to water withdrawal, transmission, and use, including where the data is kept and how it is used and shared by agencies; (5) potential future government or management structures that would better ensure affordable water access for the region's water users, including possible structures to regionalize water service in the region; (6) recommendations on the feasibility and cost-effectiveness of at least 2 intergovernmental or governmental structures to improve water quality, long-term security, and affordability in the region; and (7) recommendations on how State agencies and departments can improve data collection, planning, and regulation of water in the region. Provides that appointments to the Northeastern Illinois Water Governance Advisory Committee shall be made within 90 days after the effective date of the amendatory Act. Dissolves the Northeastern Illinois Water Governance Advisory Committee on July 1, 2027.