ILLINOIS

Overview

Illinois was one of the first states to protect patients from surprise bills for services they receive unintentionally from out-of-network providers with the Fair Patient Billing Act. More recently, the legislature considered a proposal to create the Right to Shop Act, which would require health insurance carriers to develop a benefit plan with financial incentives for patients who receive services voluntarily from providers that charge below the average in-network rates. The state also enacted laws promoting price transparency in drug pricing, requiring that a pharmacy benefit manager may not prohibit a pharmacy or pharmacist from providing a consumer a more affordable alternative when one is available.

The state explored the creation of an all-payer claims database (APCD) as a result of Executive Order 14-01, signed by former Governor Pat Quinn in 2014. The order established the Governor’s Office of Health Innovation and Transformation to direct the state’s participation in the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation’s State Innovation Model Program. Illinois was awarded up to $2,088,530 to develop its plan, dubbed the Illinois Alliance for Health Innovation Plan. The plan calls for building the APCD to ultimately collect data on commercial plans, Medicare, Medicaid, and the uninsured. However, the state does not yet have an operational APCD.

Illinois has a strong certificate of need program, which requires a health care facility to obtain a certificate of need in several circumstances, including any transfer of ownership, sale, consolidation, construction, modification, creation, or conversion of facilities. The state does not otherwise require notice or approval of hospital or provider mergers. Nonetheless, Illinois was the site of two antitrust cases involving hospital mergers: one private antitrust action and one case brought by the FTC. In FTC v. Advocate Health Care Network, the district court granted an injunction in March 2017, and the parties abandoned their merger plans.

In telehealth, Illinois statute provides cost-sharing parity, which prohibits deductibles, co-payments, and coinsurance for telehealth services from exceeding those required for in-person services. The state does not require coverage or reimbursement parity for telehealth services.

See below for an overview of existing Illinois state mandates. Click on citation tab for detailed information of specific statutes (click link to download statute text).

State Action


Latest Legislative Session: 1/11/2023 - 1/9/2024 (2023-2024 term). *Current session bill updates are ongoing. Check back weekly for updates.

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© 2018- The SLIHCQ DatabaseInitial funding for this project was provided by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The views expressed here do not necessarily reflect the views of the Foundation.

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© 2018- The SLIHCQ DatabaseInitial funding for this project was provided by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The views expressed here do not necessarily reflect the views of the Foundation.
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Additional Resources

LEGISLATION/REGULATION

Legislative Calendar

Illinois’ current legislative session runs from 1/9/2019 – 1/7/2020. Bills from 2019 will carry over to 2020 as part of the 2019-2020 legislative term.

STATE BUDGET

Illinois operates on an annual budget cycle. The governor submits the proposed budget in February, and the General Assembly passes the budget in May. The fiscal year begins on July 1 and ends on June 30 the following year.

REGULATION & ENFORCEMENT

Illinois was one of 16 states to file an amicus brief supporting the FTC’s winning position in the Ninth Circuit appeal of St. Luke’s Health Care Sys. v. FTC, No. 14-35173 (March 7, 2014), decided February 10, 2015. The States’ brief stated that the acceleration of health care costs due to the growth of large health care provider systems had become a matter of grave concern for the states.

KEY RESOURCES

Illinois State General Assembly

Illinois Office of the Attorney General