Amends the Illinois Insurance Code. Provides that no policy of individual or group accident and health insurance issued, amended, delivered, or renewed on or after the effective date of this amendatory Act may impose any preexisting condition exclusion with respect to that plan or coverage.
Amends the Juvenile Drug Treatment Act. Provides that the drug court treatment program may also, subject to the approval of the Chief Judge of the Circuit, establish a program for electronic monitoring of juveniles with regard to drug-related and alcohol-related offenses. Effective immediately.
Amends the Nuclear Safety Law of 2004. Makes a technical change in a Section concerning the short title.
Amends the Illinois Insurance Code. Provides that any contract with a third party to provide claim services for a property and casualty company must contain specified language that provides that upon liquidation or rehabilitation of the insurer, the files and related data become the sole property of the estate with the administrator having reasonable access and right to copy files; provides that the requirement shall apply to all contracts entered into after the effective date, and any existing contracts shall have one year to comply with the requirement. In provisions concerning the distribution of general assets of a company's estate that is undergoing liquidation, rehabilitation, or conservation proceedings: Prioritizes costs and expenses of administration, including the reasonable expenses of certain funds and associations, but excluding certain other expenses, and the expenses expressly approved or ratified by the Director of Insurance as liquidator or rehabilitator, including specified costs and expenses, over all other claims. Provides that claims of obligees under surety bonds and undertakings, claims by principals under surety bonds and surety undertakings for wrongful dissipation of collateral by the insurer or its agents, and claims incurred during certain extensions of coverage are granted the same priority level as claims by policyholders, beneficiaries, and insureds, under insurance policies, annuity contracts, and funding agreements. Provides that these changes apply to all pending and future liquidation, rehabilitation, or conservation proceedings. Makes other changes. Effective immediately.
Amends the Medical Assistance Article of the Illinois Public Aid Code. In a provision concerning access to psychiatric mental health services via telepsychiatry, provides that the Department of Healthcare and Family Services shall not require that a physician or other licensed health care professional be physically present in the same room as the patient for the entire time during which the patient is receiving telepsychiatry services. Provides that the Department shall not require that a physician or other licensed healthcare professional be physically present in the same room as the patient for the entire time during which the patient is receiving telemedicine services. Defines "telemedicine" as the use of a telecommunication system to provide medical services for the purpose of evaluation and treatment when the patient is at one location and the rendering provider is at another location.
Amends the Illinois Public Aid Code. Requires long term care facilities to submit admission documents through the Medical Electronic Data Interchange (MEDI) or the Recipient Eligibility Verification (REV) System or a successor system (rather than through the MEDI or REV or a successor system or directly to the Department of Human Services) within 15 days of the facility receiving required prescreening information. Requires prescreening information to be date stamped by the facility upon receipt. Provides that claims that are not submitted and received in compliance with the foregoing requirements shall not be eligible for payment under the medical assistance program, and the State shall have no liability for payment of those claims with one specified exception. Provides that the Department of Healthcare and Family Services shall waive one or more of the timeframes specified under the Code upon determining that services provided were medically necessary and provided in good faith, that failure to meet one or more of the timeframes was an error on the part of an individual employee, and that the withholding of reimbursement would constitute a financial hardship which would jeopardize the ability of the facility to pay its workers, provide for the basic needs of its residents, and ensure the highest quality of care.
Amends the Health Care Worker Background Check Act. Requires the Department of Public Health to establish and maintain the Health Care Worker Registry of specified health care workers. Makes corresponding changes in the Nursing Home Care Act, MC/DD Act, and ID/DD Community Care Act, including deleting language requiring the Department to establish and maintain a health care worker registry in each of those Acts. Provides that the information contained in the Health Care Worker Registry shall include information from the registries established under the Nursing Home Care Act, MC/DD Act, and the ID/DD Community Care Act. Specifies that certain prohibitions on health care employers and long-term care facilities retaining individuals applies whether the individual is paid or is a volunteer. Adds specified offenses to a provision that prohibits health care employers and long-term care facilities from hiring a person who has been convicted of certain offenses. Makes other changes. Amends the Department of Human Services Act, Mental Health and Developmental Disabilities Administrative Act, and Mental Health and Developmental Disabilities Confidentiality Act to make conforming and other changes. Effective immediately.
Amends the Criminal Code of 2012. In the statutes concerning aggravated kidnaping, aggravated assault, aggravated battery, and unlawful use of weapons, deletes references to "hooded" and replaces with "cloth" so that the offense is committed when the person commits the proscribed act when he or she wears a cloth, robe, or mask to conceal his or her identity. Effective immediately.
Amends the Home Health, Home Services, and Home Nursing Agency Licensing Act. Makes a technical change in a Section concerning the application of the Act.
Amends the Smoke Detector Act. Provides that the battery for specified battery powered smoke detectors must be a self-contained long term battery if specified conditions occur. Provides that specified battery requirements do not apply to fire alarms, smoke detectors, smoke alarms, or ancillary components electronically connected to specified alarm systems; that use a low-power radio frequency wireless communication signal; that uses Wi-Fi or other Wireless Local Area Networking capability to send and receive specified notifications; or to devices as designated by the State Fire Marshal. Provides that certain smoke detector requirements do not apply to dwelling units and hotels within municipalities with a population over 1,000,000 inhabitants. Effective January 1, 2018.
