HB4603 102ND GENERAL ASSEMBLY

LRB102 23939 CPF 33139 b

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.

A BILL FOR

AN ACT concerning State government.

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

Section 5. The Department of Public Health Powers and Duties Law of the Civil Administrative Code of Illinois is amended by adding Section 2310-413 as follows:

(20 ILCS 2310/2310-413 new)

Sec. 2310-413. COVID-19 testing site standards and licensing.

(a) The Department shall develop a comprehensive licensing and registration process for sites that test for COVID-19. 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.

(b) The Department shall recommend new standards for labs that test for COVID-19 and have opened since 2021. The Department shall ensure that its recommendations do not overregulate established labs that test other samples.

(c) The Department shall set standards for the timeliness of test results for all COVID-19 testing methods provided by sites that test for COVID-19, including polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and rapid antigen tests. The Department shall establish a time limit on how long test results may take to be delivered to patients.

(d) The Department shall set standards for how sites that test for COVID-19 contact patients with results from those tests. The Department shall require that COVID-19 testing sites notify and provide, by phone, text, email, letter, or a secure website login, the results of a test to each person tested for COVID-19, regardless of whether the test is positive or negative for COVID-19.

(e) The Department shall ensure that it maintains an adequately staffed hotline to receive complaints about COVID-19 testing sites and labs.

(f) The Department shall require sites that test for COVID-19 to report the number of patients tested who did not have insurance coverage.

(g) The Department shall seek a recommendation from the Office of the Attorney General on the penalty for a site that tests for COVID-19 that charges or sends a patient an invoice after a test when the test is either covered by the patient's insurance plan or under the federal Health Resources and Services Administration's HRSA COVID-19 Coverage Assistance Fund.

(h) The Department shall adopt rules to implement this Section.

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