Electronic Fall 2024 | Issue 60
State Legislative Update
By: Mark Peysakhovich, IPS Legislative Consultant
New Key Behavioral Health Measures Signed Into Law
By the time this year’s spring legislative session concluded at the of May, the Illinois General Assembly sent several dozen behavioral health-related bills to Gov. JB Pritzker for his consideration. Over the last several months, the Governor has signed many of those bills into law. Here is a wrap up of some key pieces of legislation we’ve been tracking.
Senate Bill (SB) 726 is now Public Act 103-0885, with an immediate effective date of August 9, 2024. The new law requires Illinois public primary and secondary education schools to establish a student mental health screening process.
SB 3268 is now Public Act 103-0593, with an immediate effective date of June 7, 2024. I wrote about this bill, the Omnibus Medicaid Package, in a previous Mind Matters article. Most importantly, SB 3268 improves access to psychotropic medications for Medicaid recipients by limiting the ability of Medicaid Managed Care Organizations to require prior authorization for the use of psychotropic medications to treat serious mental illnesses in adults. Among the law’s many provisions is an increase in the Medicaid psychiatry reimbursement rate to $264.42 per hour (beginning 2025).
SB 3297 is now Public Act 103-0970, effective on January 1, 2025. This new law clears up a previous legislative oversight by lowering the age of eligibility for the state Housing is Recovery program down to 18 from the previous 21.
SB 3538, signed into Public Act 103-1011, goes into effect on January 1, 2025. This law expands access to mental health treatment for first responders by requiring local governments to provide them with coverage for mental health services without cost sharing requirements like copays or deductibles.
House Bill (HB) 4460 is now Public Act 103-0818, with the effective date of January 1, 2025. This law, intended to further support first responders and their families, requires local governments to provide coverage for joint mental health therapy services (without cost sharing requirements like copays or deductibles) not only for police officers and firefighters but also for spouses or domestic partners.
HB 4758 was signed into Public Act 103-0829 and became effective immediately on August 9, 2024. The new law aims to increase accountability in the foster care system by requiring for the first time that the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services annually report the number of youth in temporary care because the Department cannot locate an appropriate placement for the youth.
HB 5094 is now Public Act 103-0690, effective upon its enactment on July 19, 2024. This law establishes a state Behavioral Health Administrative Burden Task Force. The Task Force will review policies and regulations affecting the behavioral health industry to identify inefficiencies, duplicate or unnecessary requirements, unduly burdensome restrictions, and other administrative barriers that prevent behavioral health professionals from providing services and will propose changes and improvements.
HB 5353, now Public Act 103-0708, effective on January 1, 2025, provides for temporary licensing and other changes to streamline the notoriously long and complicated licensing process for mental health practitioners.
HB 5395 was signed into Public Act 103-0650, effective January 1, 2025 (beginning with 2026 insurance plans). I wrote about this bill in a previous Mind Matters article. Known as the Healthcare Consumer Access and Protection Act, the law ends prior authorization requirements for admission for inpatient mental health treatment at participating hospitals. The law also prohibits insurance companies from utilizing therapy requirements in most cases, unless drug substitution reviews are otherwise legally applicable.