HB1035 95TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

LRB095 06816 HLH 26932 b

95TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2007 and 2008
HB1035

Introduced 2/8/2007, by Rep. Mike Boland

SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:

70 ILCS 705/6.3 new

Amends the Fire Protection District Act. Authorizes the board of trustees to provide group insurance to employees. Sets forth requirements.

A BILL FOR

AN ACT concerning local government.

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

Section 5. The Fire Protection District Act is amended by adding Section 6.3 as follows:

(70 ILCS 705/6.3 new)

Sec. 6.3. Group insurance.

(a) In addition and supplementary to the powers granted under Section 6, the trustees of any fire protection district may arrange to provide, for the benefit of employees of the district, group life, health, accident, hospital, and medical insurance, or any one or any combination of those types of insurance, and may arrange to provide that insurance for the benefit of the spouses or dependents of those employees. The insurance may include provision for employees or other insured persons who rely on treatment by prayer or spiritual means alone for healing in accordance with the tenets and practice of a well recognized religious denomination. The trustees may provide for payment by the district of a portion of the premium or charge for the insurance with the employee paying the balance of the premium or charge. If the trustees undertake a plan under which the district pays a portion of the premium or charge, the trustees shall provide for withholding and deducting from the compensation of those employees who consent to join the plan the balance of the premium or charge for the insurance.

(b) If the trustees do not provide for a plan under which the district pays a portion of the premium or charge for a group insurance plan, the trustees may provide for withholding and deducting from the compensation of those employees who consent thereto the premium or charge for any group life, health, accident, hospital, and medical insurance.

(c) The trustees may exercise the powers granted in this Section only if the kinds of group insurance are obtained from an insurance company authorized to do business in the State of Illinois, or are obtained through an intergovernmental joint self-insurance pool as authorized under the Intergovernmental Cooperation Act. The trustees shall be allowed to join or create an intergovernmental joint self-insurance pool regardless of size. The trustees may enact an ordinance prescribing the method of operation of the insurance program.

(d) If a district is a self-insurer for purposes of providing health insurance coverage for its employees, the insurance coverage shall include screening by low-dose mammography for all women 35 years of age or older for the presence of occult breast cancer. The coverage shall be as follows:

(1) A baseline mammogram for women 35 to 39 years of age.

(2) An annual mammogram for women 40 years of age or older.

Those benefits shall be at least as favorable as for other radiological examinations and subject to the same dollar limits, deductibles, and co-insurance factors. For purposes of this subsection, "low-dose mammography" means the x-ray examination of the breast using equipment dedicated specifically for mammography, including the x-ray tube, filter, compression device, screens, and image receptors, with an average radiation exposure delivery of less than one rad mid-breast, with 2 views for each breast.