Public Act 098-0493
 
SB1911 EnrolledLRB098 09303 RPM 39443 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 Department of Public Health Powers and 
Duties Law of the
Civil Administrative Code of Illinois is 
amended  by adding Section 2310-665 as follows:
 
    (20 ILCS 2310/2310-665 new)
    Sec. 2310-665. Hepatitis C Task Force.
    (a)    The General Assembly finds and declares the following:
        (1)     Viral hepatitis is a contagious and 
    life-threatening disease that has a substantial and 
    increasing effect upon the lifespans and quality of life of 
    at least 5,000,000 persons living in the United States and 
    as many as 180,000,000 worldwide. According to the U.S. 
    Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), the chronic 
    form of the hepatitis C virus (HCV) and hepatitis B virus 
    (HBV) account for the vast majority of hepatitis-related 
    mortalities in the U.S., yet as many as 65% to 75% of 
    infected Americans remain unaware that they are infected 
    with the virus, prompting the U.S. Centers for Disease 
    Control and Prevention (CDC) to label these viruses as the 
    silent epidemic.  HCV and HBV are major public health 
    problems that cause chronic liver diseases, such as 
    cirrhosis, liver failure, and liver cancer.  The 5-year 
    survival rate for primary liver cancer is less than 5%.  
    These viruses are also the leading cause of liver 
    transplantation in the United States.   While there is a 
    vaccine for HBV, no vaccine exists for HCV.  However, there 
    are anti-viral treatments for HCV that can improve the 
    prognosis or actually clear the virus from the patient's 
    system.  Unfortunately, the vast majority of infected 
    patients remain unaware that they have the virus since 
    there are generally no symptoms.  Therefore, there is a dire 
    need to aid the public in identifying certain risk factors 
    that would warrant testing for these viruses.  Millions of 
    infected patients remain undiagnosed and continue to be at 
    elevated risks for developing more serious complications.  
    More needs to be done to educate the public about this 
    disease and the risk factors that warrant testing.  In some 
    cases, infected patients play an unknowing role in further 
    spreading this infectious disease.
        (2)    The existence of HCV was definitively published and 
    discovered by medical researchers in 1989.  Prior to this 
    date, HCV is believed to have spread unchecked.  The 
    American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases 
    (AASLD) recommends that primary care physicians screen all 
    patients for a history of any viral hepatitis risk factor 
    and test those individuals with at least one identifiable 
    risk factor for the virus.  Some of the most common risk 
    factors have been identified by AASLD, HHS, and the U.S. 
    Department of Veterans Affairs, as well as other public 
    health and medical research organizations, and include the 
    following:
            (A) anyone who has received a blood transfusion 
        prior to 1992;
            (B) anyone who is a Vietnam-era veteran;
            (C) anyone who has abnormal liver function tests;
            (D) anyone infected with the HIV virus;
            (E) anyone who has used a needle to inject drugs;
            (F) any health care, emergency medical, or public 
        safety worker who has been stuck by a needle or exposed 
        to any mucosal fluids of an HCV-infected person; and
            (G) any children born to HCV-infected mothers.
        A 1994 study determined that Caucasian Americans 
    statistically accounted for the most number of infected 
    persons in the United States, while the highest incidence 
    rates were among African and Hispanic Americans.
        (3)     In January of 2010, the Institute of Medicine 
    (IOM), commissioned by the CDC, issued a comprehensive 
    report entitled Hepatitis and Liver Cancer: A National 
    Strategy for Prevention and Control of Hepatitis B and C.  
    The key findings and recommendations from the IOM's report 
    are (A) there is a lack of knowledge and awareness about 
    chronic viral hepatitis on the part of health care and 
    social service providers, (B) there is a lack of knowledge 
    and awareness about chronic viral hepatitis among at-risk 
    populations, members of the public, and policy makers, and 
    (C) there is insufficient understanding about the extent 
    and seriousness of the public health problem, so inadequate 
    public resources are being allocated to prevention, 
    control, and surveillance programs.
        (4)    In this same 2010 IOM report, researchers compared 
    the prevalence and incidences of HCV, HBV, and HIV and 
    found that, although there are only 1,100,000 HIV/AIDS 
    infected persons in the United States and over 4,000,000 
    Americans infected with viral hepatitis, the percentage of 
    those with HIV that are unaware they have HIV is only 21% 
    as opposed to approximately 70% of those with viral 
    hepatitis being unaware that they have viral hepatitis.  It 
    appears that public awareness of risk factors associated 
    with each of these diseases could be a major factor in the 
    alarming disparity between the percentage of the 
    population that is infected with one of these blood 
    viruses, but unaware that they are infected.
        (5)    In light of the widely varied nature of the risk 
    factors mentioned in this subsection (a), the previous 
    findings by the Institute of Medicine, and the clear 
    evidence of the disproportional public awareness between 
    HIV and viral hepatitis, it is clearly in the public 
    interest for this State to establish a task force to gather 
    testimony and develop an action plan to (A) increase public 
    awareness of the risk factors for these viruses, (B) 
    improve access to screening for these viruses, and (C) 
    provide those infected with information about the 
    prognosis, treatment options, and elevated risk of 
    developing cirrhosis and liver cancer.  There is clear and 
    increasing evidence that many adults in Illinois and in the 
    United States have at least one of the risk factors 
    mentioned in this subsection (a).
        (6)    The General Assembly also finds that it is in the 
    public interest to bring communities of Illinois-based 
    veterans of American military service into familiarity 
    with the issues created by this disease, because many 
    veterans, especially Vietnam-era veterans, have at least 
    one of the previously enumerated risk factors and are 
    especially prone to being affected by this disease; and 
    because veterans of American military service should enjoy 
    in all cases, and do enjoy in most cases, adequate access 
    to health care services that include medical management and 
    care for preexisting and long-term medical conditions, 
    such as infection with the hepatitis virus.
    (b)  There is established the Hepatitis C Task Force
within 
the Department of Public Health. The purpose of the Task Force 
shall be to:
        (1)   develop strategies to identify and address the 
    unmet needs of persons
with hepatitis C in order to enhance 
    the quality of life of persons with hepatitis C by 
    maximizing
productivity and independence and addressing 
    emotional, social, financial, and vocational
challenges of 
    persons with hepatitis C;
        (2)   develop strategies to provide persons with 
    hepatitis C greater access to
various treatments and other 
    therapeutic options that may be available; and
        (3) develop strategies to improve hepatitis C 
    education and awareness.
    (c)    The Task Force shall consist of 17 members as follows:
        (1)   the Director of Public Health, the Director of 
    Veterans' Affairs, and the Director of Human Services,
or 
    their designees, who shall serve ex officio;
        (2)   ten public members who shall be appointed by
the 
    Director of Public Health from the medical, patient, and 
    service provider communities, including, but not limited 
    to, HCV Support, Inc.; and
        (3)   four members of the General Assembly, appointed
     one 
    each by the President of the Senate, the Minority Leader of 
    the Senate, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, 
    and the Minority Leader of the House of Representatives.
    Vacancies in the membership of the Task Force shall be 
filled in the same
manner provided for in the original 
appointments.
    (d)     The Task Force shall organize within 120 days following 
the
appointment of a majority of its members and shall select a 
chairperson and
vice-chairperson from among the members.  The 
chairperson shall appoint a
secretary, who need not be a member 
of the Task Force.
    (e)    The public members shall serve without compensation and 
shall not be reimbursed for necessary expenses incurred in the

performance of their duties, unless funds
become available to 
the Task Force.
    (f)     The Task Force shall be entitled to call to its 
assistance and avail
itself of the services of the employees of 
any State, county, or municipal
department, board, bureau, 
commission, or agency as it may require and as may be
available 
to it for its purposes.
    (g)     The Task Force may meet and hold hearings as it deems 
appropriate.
    (h)     The Department of Public Health shall provide staff

support to the Task Force.
    (i)    The Task Force shall report its findings and 
recommendations to the
Governor and to the General Assembly, 
along with any legislative bills that it desires to recommend

for adoption by the General Assembly, no later than December 
31, 2015.
    (j)    The Task Force is abolished and this Section is 
repealed on January 1, 2016.
  
 
 
    Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon 
becoming law.