PHOTO COURTESY THE STATE OF ILLINOIS
Gov. JB Pritzker signing a mental health bill into law.
Governor JB Pritzker signed more than 100 bills into law last week, with a handful centered on mandating specific health insurance policies, along with enhancing patient safety and disease prevention. From barring anesthesia time limits to a new infectious disease commission, here are some of the latest changes to Illinois state law.
Insurance coverage
Late last year, Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield – a separate company from Blue Cross Blue Shield of Illinois that does not offer insurance plans in Illinois – had planned to start setting time limits for anesthesia coverage before announcing a reversal around the time UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson was murdered.
One month later, practicing anesthesiologist and state Rep. Bill Hauter, R-Morton, introduced House Bill 1141 to require health insurance companies to cover anesthesia services without time limits. The bill saw unanimous support across both chambers and will be required as part of all future contracts the Department of Healthcare and Family Services negotiates with insurers.
Health insurers will also be required to provide in-network rates for people who experience emergency visits to the neonatal intensive care unit, or NICU, regardless of if the medical provider is in the insurer’s network.
Before a final house vote on House Bill 2464 in April, chief sponsor state Rep. Laura Faver Dias, D-Grayslake, said it was a “simple bill” that clarified language on existing policies. Even as an amended version of the bill passed unanimously out of committee, Hauter said such a change could weaken financial advantages for some hospital networks that have specialized NICUs.
“Hospitals can put a great amount of money and time into obtaining neonatal intensive care designation and they use that to negotiate rates. This takes away all the negotiations and says everybody has to pay the same rate,” Hauter said. “For example, my hospital in Peoria, OSF St. Francis, has a neonatal intensive care unit. That is a market competitive advantage that they have. This bill would take that away from them.”
Faver Dias said while she understands hospitals have concerns, it’s patients – in this case, newborn infants with life-threatening medical concerns – and new parents who should come first.
“I’m not sure that we should be looking at competitive advantages as a right to health care when it comes to this kind of care,” she said. “When labor happens for parents whose children have to go in the NICU, it is quick, it is fast,” so parents have little time to find in-network care.
She mentioned she personally had a NICU visit that was in network and still cost her thousands of dollars while other families told her they were having to pay close to $100,000 for out-of-network NICU stays.
The bill passed largely along party lines in the House before unanimously passing through the Senate.
Starting in 2027, health insurers will be required to provide coverage for hippotherapy, a growing field of horse-assisted movement therapy often prescribed to people who are also candidates for physical, occupational or speech therapy.
“Horses have become very effective in the treatment of PTSD for veterans (and) autism for children,” said state Sen. Laura Murphy, D-Des Plaines, chief sponsor of the bill in April.
State Rep. Tracy Katz Muhl, D-Northbrook, also a sponsor of the bill, said in May that it was about ensuring equitable coverage among insurers.
“Insurance policies, including the Blue Cross ones, do already” cover hippotherapy, Katz Muhl said. “This will even the playing field amongst the providers.”
The bill passed unanimously through the Senate before passing the House along party lines.
Prevention
The following bills, focused on preventing mistreatment, disease and overdose deaths, were all unanimously approved by both chambers:
Mental health professionals can no longer use artificial intelligence when making therapy decisions, as guaranteed by House Bill 1806, which took effect upon Pritzker’s signature.
The legislation gives the Department of Financial and Professional Regulation the ability to investigate suspected violators and fine up to $10,000 per offense.
University of Illinois will host an infectious disease commission focused on interdisciplinary preparedness for zoonotic outbreaks, thanks to the One Health Commission Act. It will consist of 18 members, mostly appointed by various department heads from state government, and turn in a report to the General Assembly by 2028 with legislative recommendations to improve and protect the “well-being of the state’s residents, animals and environment.”
Related: High
school student writes bill to prevent opioid deaths
All public libraries must begin to stock naloxone, a drug used to help people experiencing an opioid overdose. House Bill 1910 also asks libraries to have at least one employee during library hours who is trained in recognizing and responding to an opioid overdose, but does not mandate it. The bill was originally written by Elgin high schooler Jordan Henry.
During 2022 – the most recent year with comparable data – more than 3,800 people died of an overdose in Illinois, while almost 1,800 were killed by firearms, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. That same year, more than 1,250 people in Illinois died due to a traffic accident, according to the Illinois Department of Transportation.