(215 ILCS 121/10)

Sec. 10. Certificate required.

(a) No individual or entity shall perform, offer to perform, or advertise any service as a navigator or certified application counselor in this State or receive navigator grant funding from the United States Department of Health and Human Services, the State of Illinois, or an exchange or private funds unless certified as a navigator or certified application counselor by the Director under this Act.

(b) The Director may establish exemptions from certification by rule.

(c) A navigator or certified application counselor may not:

(1) sell, solicit, or negotiate, as these terms are defined in Section 500-10 of the Illinois Insurance Code, any of the classes of insurance enumerated in Section 4 of the Illinois Insurance Code;

(2) offer advice about which health plan is better or worse for a particular individual or employer;

(3) recommend or endorse a particular health plan or advise consumers about which health plan to choose;

(4) provide any information or services related to health benefit plans or other insurance products not offered in the exchange, except for health care providers when furnishing information or services related to a patient's existing health benefit plan or other existing health insurance coverage;

(5) accept any compensation or consideration, directly or indirectly, from any issuer of accident and health insurance or stop-loss insurance that is dependent, in whole or in part, on whether a person enrolls in or purchases a particular private health benefit plan; or

(6) engage in an unfair method of competition or a fraudulent, deceptive, or dishonest act or practice with respect to the health insurance marketplace or with respect to that individual's or entity's absence of a conflict of interest in connection with the enrollment of an individual or employee in a particular private health benefit plan.

(d) Items (1), (2), (3), (4), and (5) of subsection (c) of this Section do not apply to navigators or certified application counselors when assisting individuals with the enrollment process in the State Medicaid program or other public programs.

(Source: P.A. 102-462, eff. 8-20-21.)