Governor Signs Various Pieces of Legislation Over the Summer
The legislative session ended on June 2, 2019. However, the work produced by the legislative session is not final. Over the summer, the legislature sends all the pieces of passed legislation to the Governor for his final approval or disapproval.
The Governor has 60 days to act on a piece of legislation, once it is sent to his office. He then has a few options for action. He may: 1) Sign the legislation, and it becomes law; or 2) Issue an amendatory veto, which makes changes to the legislation. The entire bill with the Governor’s changes then must be sent back to the legislature for approval or disapproval; or 3) Fully veto the legislation, which gives the legislature the option to override his veto with a 3/5 vote in both houses.
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In June, the ICS reported on the various activities of the legislature and the status of legislation as it had passed the legislature. Over the summer, the Governor acted on some pieces of legislation that directly affect our members. A summary of those important actions follows.
Medical Practice Act (MPA) Extension
SB 1221 (Jones III, E./Harris,) provided a two-year extension to the MPA until January 1, 2022. The MPA licenses chiropractic physicians, medical doctors, and doctors of osteopathic medicine. The Act generally expires (“sunsets”) every year or few years and requires reauthorization to continue. The MPA was scheduled to sunset on December 31, 2019. SB 1221 provided a two-year extension of the MPA. The ICS wrote a letter to the Governor supporting this legislation to further protect your ability to practice and ensure only licensed physicians are practicing medicine in the State of Illinois.
It is very important to note that the law now allows for the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation (IDFPR) to email licensees notice of formal disciplinary proceedings, instead of sending hard copies by certified mail. Therefore, it is very important for doctors to confirm that they have provided a correct and updated email address to IDFPR. As the Department continues to go paperless, we want our doctors to be aware of this change.
The Governor has signed the legislation as P.A. 101-316, which is effective immediately.
CPT Codes and Time-Based Billing
SB 653 (Sandoval/Jones, T.) was an Illinois Physical Therapy Association initiative under the Illinois Insurance Code. The bill prohibits health care plans from implementing a time measurement standard that results in fewer units billed than allowed by CPT guidelines. The ICS supported this legislation during the legislative session and wrote a letter of support to the Governor.
Our letter to the Governor outlined some of the challenges our doctors have had with this very similar issue. Therefore, we encouraged him to sign the legislation to further help our doctors with these issues.
The legislation passed both chambers and the Governor signed the legislation. It is now P.A. 101-1119 and is effective immediately.
ANCRA Mandated Reported Training
SB 1778 (Morrison J./Feigenholtz) was passed this session to update the Abused and Neglected Child Reporting Act (ANCRA). Chiropractic physicians are and will remain mandated reporters under ANCRA. The changes to the Act included adding various professions to the list of mandated reporters, training requirements for mandated reporters, and outlining a public awareness campaign regarding child abuse and neglect. Chiropractic physicians, along with all mandated reporters, will be required to complete continuing education under this legislation.
Once the law is effective, the ICS will monitor the rules to be implemented that will further clarify the continuing education requirements. The ICS will inform its members of requirements when more information is available.
The legislation passed both chambers and the Governor has signed the law. It is now P.A. 101-554 and is effective January 1, 2020.
The legislature will return to Springfield at the end of October for the fall veto session. As always, we continue to advocate on behalf of our members and the profession. We will continue to keep you updated on important information.
For a full write-up of our legislative efforts this past session please see the article Legislative Update June 2019 or by clicking here.
