Amends the Payday Loan Reform Act. Changes the definition of "payday loan" to include any loan with a finance charge exceeding an annual percentage rate of 36% (instead of with a finance charge exceeding an annual percentage rate of 36% and with a term that does not exceed 120 days). Provides that no lender may make a payday loan with periodic payments unless the periodic payments are substantially equal term payments and, if paid as scheduled, result in full payment of the principal and interest owed on the loan at the end of the loan term. Requires the licensee, as part of the information that he or she must collect and maintain, to include the total number of lawsuits filed by the licensee or its agent against consumers to collect on payday loans from consumers during the preceding calendar year. Prohibits a licensee or a person making payday loans from evading the requirements and prohibitions of the Act by use of a device or subterfuge including, but not limited to, (i) disguising a payday loan as a different type of transaction, or (ii) characterizing a required fee as a purchase of a good or service in connection with a payday loan. Authorizes the Department to develop rules to determine if any person or entity seeks to evade the applicability of this Act by any device, subterfuge, or pretense. Effective immediately.
Sponsored bills
Amends the Charter Schools Law of the School Code. Provides that a charter school may not have more campuses than the number of campuses it has on the effective date of the amendatory Act, except that if a charter school has more than one campus and a campus closes on or after the effective date of the amendatory Act, then the number of campuses that the charter school may have shall be reduced by the number of campuses that have closed.
Amends the School Code. Provides that there is created the Probationary School Oversight Committee to work with principals and staff to develop stringent guidelines to address school performance. Requires the State Board of Education to appoint members to the Committee, who shall serve at the pleasure of the State Board. Provides that the State Board shall assign the Committee those duties that it deems necessary in order for the Committee to carry out its purposes. Requires the Committee to report on its progress to the State Board.
Amends the Illinois Public Aid Code. Provides that a "service provider" includes other entities besides a person or a corporation. Provides that the Department of Healthcare and Family Services, by rule, shall establish a separate cost-based reimbursement rate for service providers to provide child and adult psychiatric services on an outpatient basis. Provides that this rate shall apply only to service providers that (i) are certified by the Illinois Department of Human Services under the Medicaid Community Mental Health Services Program and (ii) demonstrate a combined Medicaid, poverty, and uninsured patient population penetration rate of 60% or greater. Provides that the Department, by rule, shall develop a cost-reporting mechanism, which will form the basis for any reimbursements made to service providers for providing child and adult psychiatric services on an outpatient basis. Effective January 1, 2009.
Amends the Illinois Public Aid Code. In provisions concerning Medicaid rates for nursing homes, provides that for facilities licensed by the Department of Public Health under the Nursing Home Care Act as skilled nursing facilities or intermediate care facilities, the support component of the rates taking effect on July 1, 2008 shall be computed using the most recent cost reports on file with the Department of Healthcare and Family Services no later than April 1, 2006, updated for inflation to January 1, 2007. Provides that facilities shall have the support component of their Medicaid rate computed every year using the most recent cost reports on file with the Department of Healthcare and Family Services no later than April 1, 2 years prior to the year in which the new rate takes effect, updated for inflation to January 1 of the year prior to the year in which the new rate takes effect. Effective immediately.
Amends the Illinois Public Aid Code. Provides that a "service provider" may be another entity besides a person or corporation. Provides that the Department of Healthcare and Family Services, by rule, shall apply a comparable, prospective cost-reimbursement methodology for service providers to provide child and adult psychiatric services on an outpatient basis with the stipulation that the service provider meet certain criteria. Provides for reimbursement of advanced practice nurses providing such services at 100% of the established physician rate. Effective January 1, 2008.
Amends the Charter Schools Law of the School Code. Provides that the Chicago Board of Education may designate attendance boundaries for its charter schools (now the Board may designate attendance boundaries for no more than one-third of its charter schools). Also allows for an attendance boundary for a campus of a charter school. Provides that pupils residing within an attendance boundary must (instead of may) be given priority for enrollment. Effective immediately.
Amends the Comprehensive Health Insurance Plan Act, the Children's Health Insurance Program Act, the Covering ALL KIDS Insurance Act, the Illinois Public Aid Code, and the Veterans' Health Insurance Program Act. Provides that the fee schedule for each of these programs must be competitive with those of non-governmental, third-party health insurance programs. Provides that (i) reimbursement for any service must not be lower than Medicare reimbursement in effect on January 1, 2007; (ii) the fee schedule must be decreased or increased every January 1 corresponding to the decrease or increase in the Consumer Price Index for medical care published by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, but in no case more than 4% per year; and (iii) payment for services must be made within 30 days after receipt of a bill or claim for payment. Effective July 1, 2007.
Creates the Medical Malpractice Liability Insurance Premium Assistance Fund Act. Provides that the moneys in the Medical Malpractice Liability Insurance Premium Assistance Fund, which is created as a special find in the State treasury, shall be used by the Division of Insurance within the Department of Financial and Professional Regulation to provide assistance for the payment of medical malpractice liability insurance premiums to physicians in the State who maintain their practice in low-income areas (areas or neighborhoods where a majority of the residents are at or below 300% of the federal poverty level). Sets forth conditions for physicians to receive assistance. Requires the physician to submit documentation to the Division of Insurance showing compliance with the terms of the contract. Sets out the formula to be used for calculating the amount of assistance provided. Provides that, if funding available from the Fund is insufficient, the Division of Insurance may reduce the payments to each eligible physician a pro rata amount basis to maximize the number of physicians who may receive assistance. Provides that the payment amounts and the names of physicians receiving payments shall be public record, but that certain other information used by the Division of Insurance shall not. Amends the State Finance Act to create the Medical Malpractice Liability Insurance Premium Assistance Fund.
Urges the Governor to immediately make his appointments to the commission created to review funding methodologies, identify gaps in funding, identify revenue, and prioritize the use of that revenue for community developmental disability, mental health, alcohol and substance abuse, rehabilitation, and early intervention services.