Illinois 2025-2026 Regular Session

Illinois Senate Bill SB1223 Compare Versions

Only one version of the bill is available at this time.

Old	New	Differences
1	1	104TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY State of Illinois 2025 and 2026 SB1223 Introduced 1/24/2025, by Sen. Laura Fine SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED: 210 ILCS 88/30210 ILCS 88/38 new210 ILCS 88/42 new Amends the Fair Patient Billing Act. Provides that medical creditors and debt collectors are prohibited from communicating with a patient regarding unpaid charges for the purpose of seeking to collect the charges and initiating a lawsuit or arbitration proceeding against the patient regarding the unpaid charges while an appeal of a health insurance decision is pending or was pending within 180 days. Sets forth provisions concerning medical debt interest under a reasonable payment plan, the applicable interest rate for judgments on medical debt, the effect of medical debt forgiveness on the contractual relationship between the medical creditor and the insurer or payor, and the applicability of the provisions. LRB104 03269 BAB 13291 b A BILL FOR 104TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY State of Illinois 2025 and 2026 SB1223 Introduced 1/24/2025, by Sen. Laura Fine SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED: 210 ILCS 88/30210 ILCS 88/38 new210 ILCS 88/42 new 210 ILCS 88/30 210 ILCS 88/38 new 210 ILCS 88/42 new Amends the Fair Patient Billing Act. Provides that medical creditors and debt collectors are prohibited from communicating with a patient regarding unpaid charges for the purpose of seeking to collect the charges and initiating a lawsuit or arbitration proceeding against the patient regarding the unpaid charges while an appeal of a health insurance decision is pending or was pending within 180 days. Sets forth provisions concerning medical debt interest under a reasonable payment plan, the applicable interest rate for judgments on medical debt, the effect of medical debt forgiveness on the contractual relationship between the medical creditor and the insurer or payor, and the applicability of the provisions. LRB104 03269 BAB 13291 b LRB104 03269 BAB 13291 b A BILL FOR
2	2	104TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY State of Illinois 2025 and 2026 SB1223 Introduced 1/24/2025, by Sen. Laura Fine SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:
3	3	210 ILCS 88/30210 ILCS 88/38 new210 ILCS 88/42 new 210 ILCS 88/30 210 ILCS 88/38 new 210 ILCS 88/42 new
4	4	210 ILCS 88/30
5	5	210 ILCS 88/38 new
6	6	210 ILCS 88/42 new
7	7	Amends the Fair Patient Billing Act. Provides that medical creditors and debt collectors are prohibited from communicating with a patient regarding unpaid charges for the purpose of seeking to collect the charges and initiating a lawsuit or arbitration proceeding against the patient regarding the unpaid charges while an appeal of a health insurance decision is pending or was pending within 180 days. Sets forth provisions concerning medical debt interest under a reasonable payment plan, the applicable interest rate for judgments on medical debt, the effect of medical debt forgiveness on the contractual relationship between the medical creditor and the insurer or payor, and the applicability of the provisions.
8	8	LRB104 03269 BAB 13291 b LRB104 03269 BAB 13291 b
9	9	LRB104 03269 BAB 13291 b
10	10	A BILL FOR
11	11	SB1223LRB104 03269 BAB 13291 b SB1223 LRB104 03269 BAB 13291 b
12	12	SB1223 LRB104 03269 BAB 13291 b
13	13	1 AN ACT concerning regulation.
14	14	2 Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
15	15	3 represented in the General Assembly:
16	16	4 Section 5. The Fair Patient Billing Act is amended by
17	17	5 changing Section 30 and by adding Sections 38 and 42 as
18	18	6 follows:
19	19	7 (210 ILCS 88/30)
20	20	8 Sec. 30. Pursuing collection action.
21	21	9 (a) Hospitals and their agents may pursue collection
22	22	10 action against an uninsured patient only if the following
23	23	11 conditions are met:
24	24	12 (1) The hospital has complied with the screening
25	25	13 requirements set forth in Section 16 and applied and
26	26	14 exhausted any discount available to a patient under
27	27	15 Section 10 of the Hospital Uninsured Patient Discount Act.
28	28	16 (2) The hospital has given the uninsured patient the
29	29	17 opportunity to:
30	30	18 (A) assess the accuracy of the bill;
31	31	19 (B) apply for financial assistance under the
32	32	20 hospital's financial assistance policy; and
33	33	21 (C) avail themselves of a reasonable payment plan.
34	34	22 (3) If the uninsured patient has indicated an
35	35	23 inability to pay the full amount of the debt in one
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39	39	104TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY State of Illinois 2025 and 2026 SB1223 Introduced 1/24/2025, by Sen. Laura Fine SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:
40	40	210 ILCS 88/30210 ILCS 88/38 new210 ILCS 88/42 new 210 ILCS 88/30 210 ILCS 88/38 new 210 ILCS 88/42 new
41	41	210 ILCS 88/30
42	42	210 ILCS 88/38 new
43	43	210 ILCS 88/42 new
44	44	Amends the Fair Patient Billing Act. Provides that medical creditors and debt collectors are prohibited from communicating with a patient regarding unpaid charges for the purpose of seeking to collect the charges and initiating a lawsuit or arbitration proceeding against the patient regarding the unpaid charges while an appeal of a health insurance decision is pending or was pending within 180 days. Sets forth provisions concerning medical debt interest under a reasonable payment plan, the applicable interest rate for judgments on medical debt, the effect of medical debt forgiveness on the contractual relationship between the medical creditor and the insurer or payor, and the applicability of the provisions.
45	45	LRB104 03269 BAB 13291 b LRB104 03269 BAB 13291 b
46	46	LRB104 03269 BAB 13291 b
47	47	A BILL FOR
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53	53	210 ILCS 88/30
54	54	210 ILCS 88/38 new
55	55	210 ILCS 88/42 new
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59	59	LRB104 03269 BAB 13291 b
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69	69	SB1223 LRB104 03269 BAB 13291 b
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72	72	SB1223- 2 -LRB104 03269 BAB 13291 b SB1223 - 2 - LRB104 03269 BAB 13291 b
73	73	SB1223 - 2 - LRB104 03269 BAB 13291 b
74	74	1 payment, the hospital has offered the patient a reasonable
75	75	2 payment plan. The hospital may require the uninsured
76	76	3 patient to provide reasonable verification of his or her
77	77	4 inability to pay the full amount of the debt in one
78	78	5 payment.
79	79	6 (4) To the extent the hospital provides financial
80	80	7 assistance and the circumstances of the uninsured patient
81	81	8 suggest the potential for eligibility for charity care,
82	82	9 the uninsured patient has been given at least 90 days
83	83	10 following the date of discharge or receipt of outpatient
84	84	11 care to submit an application for financial assistance and
85	85	12 shall be provided assistance with the application in
86	86	13 compliance with subsection (a) of Section 16 and Section
87	87	14 27.
88	88	15 (5) If the uninsured patient has agreed to a
89	89	16 reasonable payment plan with the hospital, and the patient
90	90	17 has failed to make payments in accordance with that
91	91	18 reasonable payment plan.
92	92	19 (6) If the uninsured patient informs the hospital that
93	93	20 he or she has applied for health care coverage under a
94	94	21 public health insurance program (and there is a reasonable
95	95	22 basis to believe that the patient will qualify for such
96	96	23 program) but the patient's application is denied.
97	97	24 (a-5) A hospital shall proactively offer information on
98	98	25 charity care options available to uninsured patients,
99	99	26 regardless of their immigration status or residency.
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105	105	SB1223 - 2 - LRB104 03269 BAB 13291 b
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108	108	SB1223- 3 -LRB104 03269 BAB 13291 b SB1223 - 3 - LRB104 03269 BAB 13291 b
109	109	SB1223 - 3 - LRB104 03269 BAB 13291 b
110	110	1 (b) A hospital may not refer a bill, or portion thereof, to
111	111	2 a collection agency or attorney for collection action against
112	112	3 the insured patient, without first ensuring compliance with
113	113	4 Section 16 and offering the patient the opportunity to request
114	114	5 a reasonable payment plan for the amount personally owed by
115	115	6 the patient. Such an opportunity shall be made available for
116	116	7 the 90 days following the date of the initial bill. If the
117	117	8 insured patient requests a reasonable payment plan, but fails
118	118	9 to agree to a plan within 90 days of the request, the hospital
119	119	10 may proceed with collection action against the patient.
120	120	11 (c) No collection agency, law firm, or individual may
121	121	12 initiate legal action for non-payment of a hospital bill
122	122	13 against a patient without the written approval of an
123	123	14 authorized hospital employee who reasonably believes that the
124	124	15 conditions for pursuing collection action under this Section
125	125	16 have been met.
126	126	17 (d) Nothing in this Section prohibits a hospital from
127	127	18 engaging an outside third party agency, firm, or individual to
128	128	19 manage the process of implementing the hospital's financial
129	129	20 assistance and reasonable payment plan programs and policies
130	130	21 so long as such agency, firm, or individual is contractually
131	131	22 bound to comply with the terms of this Act.
132	132	23 (e) A medical creditor or medical debt collector that
133	133	24 knows or should have known about an internal review, external
134	134	25 review, or other appeal of a health insurance decision that is
135	135	26 pending or was pending within the previous 180 days shall not:
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141	141	SB1223 - 3 - LRB104 03269 BAB 13291 b
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144	144	SB1223- 4 -LRB104 03269 BAB 13291 b SB1223 - 4 - LRB104 03269 BAB 13291 b
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146	146	1 (1) communicate with the patient regarding the unpaid
147	147	2 charges for health care services for the purpose of
148	148	3 seeking to collect the charges; or
149	149	4 (2) initiate a lawsuit or arbitration proceeding
150	150	5 against the consumer regarding the unpaid charges for
151	151	6 health care services.
152	152	7 (f) A medical creditor that knows or should have known
153	153	8 about an internal review, external review, or other appeal of
154	154	9 a health insurance decision that is pending or was pending
155	155	10 within the previous 180 days shall not refer, place, or send
156	156	11 the unpaid charges for health care services to a medical debt
157	157	12 collector, including by selling the debt to a medical debt
158	158	13 buyer.
159	159	14 (Source: P.A. 102-504, eff. 12-1-21; 103-323, eff. 1-1-24.)
160	160	15 (210 ILCS 88/38 new)
161	161	16 Sec. 38. Medical debt interest.
162	162	17 (a) If a patient is eligible for financial assistance and
163	163	18 has entered into a reasonable payment plan with a hospital or
164	164	19 health care provider, then no interest charges shall be added
165	165	20 to the medical expenses.
166	166	21 (b) If a patient is ineligible for financial assistance
167	167	22 and has entered into a reasonable payment plan with a hospital
168	168	23 or health care provider, interest charges shall not exceed 2%
169	169	24 annually.
170	170	25 (c) The rate of interest provided in subsection (a) or (b)
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176	176	SB1223 - 4 - LRB104 03269 BAB 13291 b
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181	181	1 shall also apply to any judgments on medical debt,
182	182	2 notwithstanding any agreement to the contrary.
183	183	3 (d) This Section applies to payment plans entered into,
184	184	4 amended, or renewed on or after the effective date of this
185	185	5 amendatory Act of the 104th General Assembly.
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191	191	SB1223 - 5 - LRB104 03269 BAB 13291 b