102ND GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2021 and 2022
HB4603

 

Introduced 1/21/2022, by Rep. Fred Crespo

 

SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:
 
20 ILCS 2310/2310-413 new

    Amends the Department of Public Health Powers and Duties Law of the Civil Administrative Code of Illinois. Provides that the Department shall develop a comprehensive licensing and registration process for sites that test for COVID-19. Provides that after developing the comprehensive licensing and registration process, the Department shall require that sites that test for COVID-19 be licensed and registered by the Department. Requires the Department of Public Health to recommend new standards for labs that test for COVID-19 and have opened since 2021. Requires the Department to ensure that it maintains an adequately staffed hotline to receive complaints about COVID-19 testing sites and labs. Contains provisions concerning standards for the timeliness of test results; methods of contacting patients; reporting; and penalties. Effective immediately.


LRB102 23939 CPF 33139 b

 

 

A BILL FOR

 

HB4603LRB102 23939 CPF 33139 b

1    AN ACT concerning State government.
 
2    Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
3represented in the General Assembly:
 
4    Section 5. The Department of Public Health Powers and
5Duties Law of the Civil Administrative Code of Illinois is
6amended by adding Section 2310-413 as follows:
 
7    (20 ILCS 2310/2310-413 new)
8    Sec. 2310-413. COVID-19 testing site standards and
9licensing.
10    (a) The Department shall develop a comprehensive licensing
11and registration process for sites that test for COVID-19.
12After developing the comprehensive licensing and registration
13process, the Department shall require that sites that test for
14COVID-19 be licensed and registered by the Department.
15    (b) The Department shall recommend new standards for labs
16that test for COVID-19 and have opened since 2021. The
17Department shall ensure that its recommendations do not
18overregulate established labs that test other samples.
19    (c) The Department shall set standards for the timeliness
20of test results for all COVID-19 testing methods provided by
21sites that test for COVID-19, including polymerase chain
22reaction (PCR) and rapid antigen tests. The Department shall
23establish a time limit on how long test results may take to be

 

 

HB4603- 2 -LRB102 23939 CPF 33139 b

1delivered to patients.
2    (d) The Department shall set standards for how sites that
3test for COVID-19 contact patients with results from those
4tests. The Department shall require that COVID-19 testing
5sites notify and provide, by phone, text, email, letter, or a
6secure website login, the results of a test to each person
7tested for COVID-19, regardless of whether the test is
8positive or negative for COVID-19.
9    (e) The Department shall ensure that it maintains an
10adequately staffed hotline to receive complaints about
11COVID-19 testing sites and labs.
12    (f) The Department shall require sites that test for
13COVID-19 to report the number of patients tested who did not
14have insurance coverage.
15    (g) The Department shall seek a recommendation from the
16Office of the Attorney General on the penalty for a site that
17tests for COVID-19 that charges or sends a patient an invoice
18after a test when the test is either covered by the patient's
19insurance plan or under the federal Health Resources and
20Services Administration's HRSA COVID-19 Coverage Assistance
21Fund.
22    (h) The Department shall adopt rules to implement this
23Section.
 
24    Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon
25becoming law.