Illinois General Assembly - Full Text of Public Act 095-0620
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Public Act 095-0620


 

Public Act 0620 95TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY



 


 
Public Act 095-0620
 
HB1301 Enrolled LRB095 09543 CMK 29742 b

    AN ACT concerning State government.
 
    Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
represented in the General Assembly:
 
    Section 5. The Illinois Act on the Aging is amended by
changing Section 4.04 as follows:
 
    (20 ILCS 105/4.04)  (from Ch. 23, par. 6104.04)
    Sec. 4.04. Long Term Care Ombudsman Program.
    (a) Long Term Care Ombudsman Program. The Department shall
establish a Long Term Care Ombudsman Program, through the
Office of State Long Term Care Ombudsman ("the Office"), in
accordance with the provisions of the Older Americans Act of
1965, as now or hereafter amended.
    (b) Definitions. As used in this Section, unless the
context requires otherwise:
        (1) "Access" has the same meaning as in Section 1-104
    of the Nursing Home Care Act, as now or hereafter amended;
    that is, it means the right to:
            (i) Enter any long term care facility or assisted
        living or shared housing establishment or supportive
        living facility;
            (ii) Communicate privately and without restriction
        with any resident, regardless of age, who consents to
        the communication;
            (iii) Seek consent to communicate privately and
        without restriction with any resident, regardless of
        age;
            (iv) Inspect the clinical and other records of a
        resident, regardless of age, with the express written
        consent of the resident;
            (v) Observe all areas of the long term care
        facility or supportive living facilities, assisted
        living or shared housing establishment except the
        living area of any resident who protests the
        observation.
        (2) "Long Term Care Facility" means (i) any facility as
    defined by Section 1-113 of the Nursing Home Care Act, as
    now or hereafter amended; and (ii) any skilled nursing
    facility or a nursing facility which meets the requirements
    of Section 1819(a), (b), (c), and (d) or Section 1919(a),
    (b), (c), and (d) of the Social Security Act, as now or
    hereafter amended (42 U.S.C. 1395i-3(a), (b), (c), and (d)
    and 42 U.S.C. 1396r(a), (b), (c), and (d)).
        (2.5) "Assisted living establishment" and "shared
    housing establishment" have the meanings given those terms
    in Section 10 of the Assisted Living and Shared Housing
    Act.
        (2.7) "Supportive living facility" means a facility
    established under Section 5-5.01a of the Illinois Public
    Aid Code.
        (3) "State Long Term Care Ombudsman" means any person
    employed by the Department to fulfill the requirements of
    the Office of State Long Term Care Ombudsman as required
    under the Older Americans Act of 1965, as now or hereafter
    amended, and Departmental policy.
        (3.1) "Ombudsman" means any designated representative
    of a regional long term care ombudsman program; provided
    that the representative, whether he is paid for or
    volunteers his ombudsman services, shall be qualified and
    designated by the Office to perform the duties of an
    ombudsman as specified by the Department in rules and in
    accordance with the provisions of the Older Americans Act
    of 1965, as now or hereafter amended.
    (c) Ombudsman; rules. The Office of State Long Term Care
Ombudsman shall be composed of at least one full-time ombudsman
and shall include a system of designated regional long term
care ombudsman programs. Each regional program shall be
designated by the State Long Term Care Ombudsman as a
subdivision of the Office and any representative of a regional
program shall be treated as a representative of the Office.
    The Department, in consultation with the Office, shall
promulgate administrative rules in accordance with the
provisions of the Older Americans Act of 1965, as now or
hereafter amended, to establish the responsibilities of the
Department and the Office of State Long Term Care Ombudsman and
the designated regional Ombudsman programs. The administrative
rules shall include the responsibility of the Office and
designated regional programs to investigate and resolve
complaints made by or on behalf of residents of long term care
facilities, supportive living facilities, and assisted living
and shared housing establishments, including the option to
serve residents under the age of 60, relating to actions,
inaction, or decisions of providers, or their representatives,
of long term care facilities, of supported living facilities,
of assisted living and shared housing establishments, of public
agencies, or of social services agencies, which may adversely
affect the health, safety, welfare, or rights of such
residents. The Office and designated regional programs may
represent all residents, but are not required by this Act to
represent persons under 60 years of age, except to the extent
required by federal law. When necessary and appropriate,
representatives of the Office shall refer complaints to the
appropriate regulatory State agency. The Department, in
consultation with the Office, shall cooperate with the
Department of Human Services and other State agencies in
providing information and training to designated regional long
term care ombudsman programs about the appropriate assessment
and treatment (including information about appropriate
supportive services, treatment options, and assessment of
rehabilitation potential) of the residents they serve,
including children, persons with mental illness (other than
Alzheimer's disease and related disorders), and persons with
developmental disabilities.
    The State Long Term Care Ombudsman and all other ombudsmen,
as defined in paragraph (3.1) of subsection (b) must submit to
background checks under the Health Care Worker Background Check
Act and receive training, as prescribed by the Illinois
Department on Aging, before visiting facilities. The training
must include information specific to assisted living
establishments, supportive living facilities, and shared
housing establishments and to the rights of residents
guaranteed under the corresponding Acts and administrative
rules.
    (d) Access and visitation rights.
        (1) In accordance with subparagraphs (A) and (E) of
    paragraph (3) of subsection (c) of Section 1819 and
    subparagraphs (A) and (E) of paragraph (3) of subsection
    (c) of Section 1919 of the Social Security Act, as now or
    hereafter amended (42 U.S.C. 1395i-3 (c)(3)(A) and (E) and
    42 U.S.C. 1396r (c)(3)(A) and (E)), and Section 712 of the
    Older Americans Act of 1965, as now or hereafter amended
    (42 U.S.C. 3058f), a long term care facility, supportive
    living facility, assisted living establishment, and shared
    housing establishment must:
            (i) permit immediate access to any resident,
        regardless of age, by a designated ombudsman; and
            (ii) permit representatives of the Office, with
        the permission of the resident's legal representative
        or legal guardian, to examine a resident's clinical and
        other records, regardless of the age of the resident,
        and if a resident is unable to consent to such review,
        and has no legal guardian, permit representatives of
        the Office appropriate access, as defined by the
        Department, in consultation with the Office, in
        administrative rules, to the resident's records.
        (2) Each long term care facility, supportive living
    facility, assisted living establishment, and shared
    housing establishment shall display, in multiple,
    conspicuous public places within the facility accessible
    to both visitors and residents and in an easily readable
    format, the address and phone number of the Office of the
    Long Term Care Ombudsman, in a manner prescribed by the
    Office.
    (e) Immunity. An ombudsman or any representative of the
Office participating in the good faith performance of his or
her official duties shall have immunity from any liability
(civil, criminal or otherwise) in any proceedings (civil,
criminal or otherwise) brought as a consequence of the
performance of his official duties.
    (f) Business offenses.
        (1) No person shall:
            (i) Intentionally prevent, interfere with, or
        attempt to impede in any way any representative of the
        Office in the performance of his official duties under
        this Act and the Older Americans Act of 1965; or
            (ii) Intentionally retaliate, discriminate
        against, or effect reprisals against any long term care
        facility resident or employee for contacting or
        providing information to any representative of the
        Office.
        (2) A violation of this Section is a business offense,
    punishable by a fine not to exceed $501.
        (3) The Director of Aging, in consultation with the
    Office, shall notify the State's Attorney of the county in
    which the long term care facility, supportive living
    facility, or assisted living or shared housing
    establishment is located, or the Attorney General, of any
    violations of this Section.
    (g) Confidentiality of records and identities. The
Department shall establish procedures for the disclosure by the
State Ombudsman or the regional ombudsmen entities of files
maintained by the program. The procedures shall provide that
the files and records may be disclosed only at the discretion
of the State Long Term Care Ombudsman or the person designated
by the State Ombudsman to disclose the files and records, and
the procedures shall prohibit the disclosure of the identity of
any complainant, resident, witness, or employee of a long term
care provider unless:
        (1) the complainant, resident, witness, or employee of
    a long term care provider or his or her legal
    representative consents to the disclosure and the consent
    is in writing;
        (2) the complainant, resident, witness, or employee of
    a long term care provider gives consent orally; and the
    consent is documented contemporaneously in writing in
    accordance with such requirements as the Department shall
    establish; or
        (3) the disclosure is required by court order.
    (h) Legal representation. The Attorney General shall
provide legal representation to any representative of the
Office against whom suit or other legal action is brought in
connection with the performance of the representative's
official duties, in accordance with the State Employee
Indemnification Act.
    (i) Treatment by prayer and spiritual means. Nothing in
this Act shall be construed to authorize or require the medical
supervision, regulation or control of remedial care or
treatment of any resident in a long term care facility operated
exclusively by and for members or adherents of any church or
religious denomination the tenets and practices of which
include reliance solely upon spiritual means through prayer for
healing.
(Source: P.A. 93-241, eff. 7-22-03; 93-878, eff. 1-1-05.)
 
    Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon
becoming law.

Effective Date: 9/17/2007