CBA Record July-August 2021

CBA Legislative News By Juli Vyverberg, Director, CBA Lawyer Referral Service and Legislation Program

T he Legislative Committee reviewed numerous Non-Sponsored bills pre- sented by various substantive law committees. These bills were voted on by the CBA Board of Managers (BOM). The bills are summarized below; for a full text copy of the bills, go to the Illinois General Assembly website: www.ilga.gov or contact Juli Vyverberg, the Legislative Liaison at the CBA, at 312-554-2062. HB620 seeks to delete a provision of the IMDMA that states that there is no require- ment that a court award decision-making to both parents as well as a provision that allows the court to examine how the parents divided parenting responsibilities for the 24 months prior to a case being filed. The BOM voted to oppose this bill. HB795 mandates 40 hours of domestic abuse training for lawyers to become qualified as a Guardian ad Litem. The Supreme Court currently appoints attorneys to act as GALs and determines what training requirements they must complete. The BOM voted to oppose this bill. SB57 creates an additional factor in deter- mining whether to award visitation with cer- tain non-parents, specifically “whether there exist any other facts that establish that the loss of the relationship between the grandparent, great-grandparent, sibling, or step-parent and the child is likely to harm the child.” The BOM voted to oppose this bill. SB139 allows married people to obtain a new copy of their marriage license with gendered language removed. The BOM voted to sup- port this position. SB207 is a comprehensive rewrite of the Title Insurance Act (215 ILCS 155 focused on “market conduct reform”). The bill seeks to establish a ratings bureau, which would regulate title insurance rates and apply only to the portion of fees paid to the title agent

for underwriting and not for settlement services, which now exceed underwriting premiums in most transactions. The BOM voted to oppose this bill. HB679 amends the Illinois Power of Attor- ney Act to provide that a principal may elect a 30-day delayed revocation of the principal’s health care agency and an optional checkbox that would delay any revocation of a Power of Attorney for Health Care for one week. The BOM voted to support this bill. SB177 makes numerous technical changes to the Managed Care Reform and Patient Rights Act to significantly streamline the prior authorization process to ensure it is fast and efficient and ensure that important health services are not withheld. The BOM voted to support this bill. HB2595/SB697 provides that every covered insurer shall provide coverage for medically necessary treatment of mental, emotional, nervous, or substance use disorders or con- ditions and that an insurer shall not apply different, additional, conflicting, or more restrictive utilization review criteria than the criteria and guidelines set forth in the treatment criteria. The BOM voted to sup- port this bill. SB3517 provides that the rule adopted by the Department of Insurance that defines medical necessity for each of the treatment models shall be updated during calendar year 2021 to include nationally recognized, generally acceptable clinical criteria sourced to evidence-based medicine and to avoid unnecessary anti-competitive impacts. The subcommittee unanimously opposes this bill, preferring the medical necessity bill (HB 2595/SB697), which provides greater specificity and fromwhich we expect a greater amount of coverage. The BOM voted to oppose this bill.

ers shall cover all telehealth services rendered by a healthcare professional to deliver any clinically appropriate, medically necessary covered services. The BOM voted to sup- port this bill. HB2469 provides that for a person 18 years of age or older who is receiving, or has received, mental health services for an attempted suicide, that the person’s thera- pist shall identify a family member or other person who shall consult with the therapist every 30 days following a suicide attempt for the period of one year. The BOM voted to oppose this bill. HB40 amends the Children with Disabilities Article of the School Code to provide that a student whose 22nd birthday occurs during the school year is eligible for special education services through the end of the school year. The BOM voted to support this bill. HB266 provides that a guardian shall consider the ward’s current preferences to the extent the ward is able to participate in decision making when those preferences are known, or reasonably ascertainable, by the guardian. Because of the conflicting views of two CBA Committees, the BOM voted to take No Position on this legislation. HB449 creates the Housing is Recovery Pilot Program Act, which provides bridge rental subsidies for individuals at high risk of unnecessary institutionalization and indi- viduals at high risk of overdose for purposes of stabilizing their mental illness or substance abuse disorder. The BOM voted to support this bill. SB2137 amends the Nursing Home Care Act to provide that the Department of Public Health shall require each long-term care facility in the State, as a condition of facility licensure, to adopt and implement written policies, provide for the availability of technology to facility residents, and ensure

HB3498 provides that health insurance issu-

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