Spring Legislative Session Underway
The Illinois General Assembly has begun its work in the 2024 spring legislative session. Lawmakers have met for several days in January and February and will pick up the pace over the next three months. The scheduled adjournment date is set for May 24th.
Governor JB Pritzker set the tone for the session in his combined State of the State/Budget Address on February 21 by laying out his legislative and budget plans for the upcoming year. A joint session of the Illinois Senate and House of Representatives gathered in the House chamber to hear his remarks. As usual, Democrat members of the legislature praised the Democrat Governor’s plans while Republican members were much less receptive.
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Being an election year, legislators will be cautious when taking votes to ensure that their actions will not politically alienate their constituents – especially those members that face challenges in the upcoming primary election. The General Primary Election will be held on March 19th.
Here are some legislative proposals of note that could impact chiropractic physicians if they were to be enacted into law. Of course, at this point they are only in the proposed stage, and the ICS will continue to carefully monitor and take a position when and where appropriate:
HB 3721 (Costa Howard, D-Lombard) allows for licensure of Naturopathic Physicians by a newly created Naturopathic Physician Medical Board. It would allow Naturopaths to perform minor surgical procedures, dispense and order all legend drugs, and prescribe and administer drugs in Schedules II-V of the Controlled Substances Act.
HB 4574 (Fritts, R-Dixon) makes a crime of violence in a physician’s office or other medical facility against a licensed health care professional an aggravating factor to allow for a more severe punishment during sentencing. The ICS is working with the sponsor to clarify that chiropractic physicians are included in the legislation.
HB 4148 (Davidsmeyer, R-Jacksonville) states that when the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation (IDFPR) sets license renewal fees, the application fee for renewal of a license issued shall be no higher than one-half of the application fee for initial issuance of the same license class at the time of license renewal.
HB 5355 (La Pointe, D-Chicago) and SB 3781 (Villa, D-West Chicago) create the Nonopioid Alternatives for Pain Act and requires the Department of Public Health to develop and publish an educational pamphlet regarding the use of nonopioid alternatives for pain treatment. They require a health care practitioner who prescribes an opioid to inform the patient of available nonopioid alternatives for treatment of pain, including chiropractic treatments.
SB 1300 (Joyce, D-Kankakee) amends the Medical Patient Rights Act to establish the right of each patient to receive from his or her health care provider an estimated cost of nonemergency medical treatment prior to undergoing the nonemergency medical treatment.
SB 1762 (Gillespie, D-Arlington Heights) prohibits a health care provider from charging or collecting from a Medicare beneficiary, insured, or enrollee any amount in excess of the Medicare-approved amount for any Medicare-covered item or service provided.
SB 2735 (Fine, D-Glenview) prohibits an insurer from charging a health care provider a fee, fine, or cost for using an electronic funds transfer process, including, but not limited to, direct deposit, virtual or digital checks, or virtual credit cards, to receive payment for health care services provided to an insured.
