Public Act 0528 104TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

SB2899 Enrolled LRB104 16346 BAB 29733 b

Public Act 104-0528

AN ACT concerning regulation.

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

Section 5. The Illinois Insurance Code is amended by changing Section 356z.15 as follows:

(215 ILCS 5/356z.15)

Sec. 356z.15. Habilitative services for children.

(a) As used in this Section, "habilitative services" means occupational therapy, physical therapy, speech therapy, and other services prescribed by the insured's treating physician pursuant to a treatment plan to enhance the ability of a child to function with a congenital, genetic, or early acquired disorder. A congenital or genetic disorder includes, but is not limited to, hereditary disorders. An early acquired disorder refers to a disorder resulting from illness, trauma, injury, or some other event or condition suffered by a child prior to that child developing functional life skills such as, but not limited to, walking, talking, or self-help skills. Congenital, genetic, and early acquired disorders may include, but are not limited to, autism or an autism spectrum disorder, cerebral palsy, and other disorders resulting from early childhood illness, trauma, or injury.

(b) A group or individual policy of accident and health insurance or managed care plan amended, delivered, issued, or renewed after the effective date of this amendatory Act of the 95th General Assembly must provide coverage for habilitative services for children under 19 years of age with a congenital, genetic, or early acquired disorder so long as all of the following conditions are met:

(1) A physician licensed to practice medicine in all its branches has diagnosed the child's congenital, genetic, or early acquired disorder.

(2) The treatment is administered by a licensed speech-language pathologist, licensed audiologist, licensed occupational therapist, licensed physical therapist, licensed physician, licensed nurse, licensed optometrist, licensed nutritionist, licensed social worker, or licensed psychologist upon the referral of a physician licensed to practice medicine in all its branches.

(3) The initial or continued treatment must be medically necessary and therapeutic and not experimental or investigational.

(b-5) For any child under 19 years of age with an early acquired disorder that is diagnosed as a speech-language disorder, including stuttering, the coverage required under this Section shall include rehabilitative services in addition to habilitative services. As used in this subsection, "rehabilitative services" means speech therapy that helps a child restore or improve skills and functions for daily living that have been lost or impaired.

(c) The coverage required by this Section shall be subject to other general exclusions and limitations of the policy, including coordination of benefits, participating provider requirements, restrictions on services provided by family or household members, utilization review of health care services, including review of medical necessity, case management, experimental, and investigational treatments, and other managed care provisions.

(d) Coverage under this Section does not apply to those services that are solely educational in nature or otherwise paid under State or federal law for purely educational services. Nothing in this subsection (d) relieves an insurer or similar third party from an otherwise valid obligation to provide or to pay for services provided to a child with a disability.

(e) Coverage under this Section for children under age 19 shall not apply to treatment of mental or emotional disorders or illnesses as covered under Section 370 of this Code as well as any other benefit based upon a specific diagnosis that may be otherwise required by law.

(f) The provisions of this Section do not apply to short-term travel, accident-only, limited, or specific disease policies.

(g) Any denial of care for habilitative services shall be subject to appeal and external independent review procedures as provided by Section 45 of the Managed Care Reform and Patient Rights Act.

(h) Upon request of the reimbursing insurer, the provider under whose supervision the habilitative services are being provided shall furnish medical records, clinical notes, or other necessary data to allow the insurer to substantiate that initial or continued medical treatment is medically necessary and that the patient's condition is clinically improving. When the treating provider anticipates that continued treatment is or will be required to permit the patient to achieve demonstrable progress, the insurer may request that the provider furnish a treatment plan consisting of diagnosis, proposed treatment by type, frequency, anticipated duration of treatment, the anticipated goals of treatment, and how frequently the treatment plan will be updated.

(i) Rulemaking authority to implement this amendatory Act of the 95th General Assembly, if any, is conditioned on the rules being adopted in accordance with all provisions of the Illinois Administrative Procedure Act and all rules and procedures of the Joint Committee on Administrative Rules; any purported rule not so adopted, for whatever reason, is unauthorized.

(j) An insurer may not deny or refuse to provide otherwise covered services under a group or individual policy of accident and health insurance or a managed care plan solely because of the location wherein the clinically appropriate services are provided.

(Source: P.A. 102-322, eff. 1-1-22.)

Section 10. The Limited Health Service Organization Act is amended by changing Section 4003 as follows:

(215 ILCS 130/4003) (from Ch. 73, par. 1504-3)

Sec. 4003. Illinois Insurance Code provisions. Limited health service organizations shall be subject to the provisions of Sections 133, 134, 136, 137, 139, 140, 141.1, 141.2, 141.3, 143, 143.31, 143c, 147, 148, 149, 151, 152, 153, 154, 154.5, 154.6, 154.7, 154.8, 155.04, 155.37, 155.49, 352c, 355.2, 355.3, 355b, 355d, 356m, 356q, 356v, 356z.4, 356z.4a, 356z.10, 356z.15, 356z.21, 356z.22, 356z.25, 356z.26, 356z.29, 356z.32, 356z.33, 356z.41, 356z.46, 356z.47, 356z.51, 356z.53, 356z.54, 356z.57, 356z.59, 356z.61, 356z.64, 356z.67, 356z.68, 356z.71, 356z.73, 356z.74, 356z.75, 356z.79, 356z.80, 356z.81, 356z.83, 356z.84, 356z.85, 364.3, 368a, 370a, 401, 401.1, 402, 403, 403A, 408, 408.2, 409, 412, 444, and 444.1 and Articles IIA, VIII 1/2, XII, XII 1/2, XIII, XIII 1/2, XXV, XXVI, and XXXIIB of the Illinois Insurance Code. Nothing in this Section shall require a limited health care plan to cover any service that is not a limited health service. For purposes of the Illinois Insurance Code, except for Sections 444 and 444.1 and Articles XIII and XIII 1/2, limited health service organizations in the following categories are deemed to be domestic companies:

(1) a corporation under the laws of this State; or

(2) a corporation organized under the laws of another state, 30% or more of the enrollees of which are residents of this State, except a corporation subject to substantially the same requirements in its state of organization as is a domestic company under Article VIII 1/2 of the Illinois Insurance Code.

(Source: P.A. 103-84, eff. 1-1-24; 103-91, eff. 1-1-24; 103-420, eff. 1-1-24; 103-426, eff. 8-4-23; 103-445, eff. 1-1-24; 103-605, eff. 7-1-24; 103-649, eff. 1-1-25; 103-656, eff. 1-1-25; 103-700, eff. 1-1-25; 103-718, eff. 7-19-24; 103-751, eff. 8-2-24; 103-758, eff. 1-1-25; 103-832, eff. 1-1-25; 103-1024, eff. 1-1-25; 104-1, eff. 6-9-25; 104-42, eff. 8-1-25; 104-73, eff. 1-1-26; 104-98, eff. 1-1-26; 104-289, eff. 1-1-26; 104-324, eff. 1-1-26; 104-334, eff. 8-15-25; 104-379, eff. 1-1-26; 104-417, eff. 8-15-25; revised 11-21-25.)

Section 15. The Illinois Public Aid Code is amended by adding Section 5-5j as follows:

(305 ILCS 5/5-5j new)

Sec. 5-5j. Speech-language rehabilitative and habilitative services. Subject to federal approval, for services beginning on and after July 1, 2026, the medical assistance program shall provide coverage for medically necessary rehabilitative and habilitative services for individuals under the age of 21 with an early acquired disorder that is diagnosed as a speech-language disorder, including stuttering. As used in this Section, "rehabilitative services" means speech therapy that helps an individual restore or improve skills and functions for daily living that have been lost or impaired.

Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect July 1, 2026, except that Sections 5 and 10 take effect on January 1, 2028.