Public Act 0326 96TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

SB1449 Enrolled LRB096 08434 RPM 18551 b

Public Act 096-0326

AN ACT concerning insurance.

Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois, represented in the General Assembly:

Section 1. Short title. This Act may be cited as the Free Healthcare Benefits Application Assistance Act.

Section 5. Healthcare program application assistance. It is a Class C misdemeanor for any person, including an individual, firm, corporation, association, partnership, joint venture, or any employee or agent thereof, to charge another person for assisting in completing and submitting an application for enrollment in any means-tested healthcare program administered by the Department of Healthcare and Family Services.

Nothing in this Act shall be construed as prohibiting a person or other entity from receiving payment from the Department of Healthcare and Family Services or other State agency for assisting persons in applying for healthcare benefits.

Section 10. The Covering ALL KIDS Health Insurance Act is amended by changing Section 25 as follows:

(215 ILCS 170/25)

(Section scheduled to be repealed on July 1, 2011)

Sec. 25. Enrollment in Program. The Department shall develop procedures to allow application agents to assist in enrolling children in the Program or other children's health programs operated by the Department. At the Department's discretion, technical assistance payments may be made available for approved applications facilitated by an application agent. The Department shall permit day and temporary labor service agencies, as defined in the Day and Temporary Labor Services Act and doing business in Illinois, to enroll as unpaid application agents. As established in the Free Healthcare Benefits Application Assistance Act, it shall be unlawful for any person to charge another person or family for assisting in completing and submitting an application for enrollment in this Program.

(Source: P.A. 94-693, eff. 7-1-06.)

Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon becoming law.