Full Text of HB0462 95th General Assembly
HB0462eng 95TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
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| AN ACT concerning public aid.
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| WHEREAS, Millions of adults and children are disabled by | 3 |
| mental illness every year, with approximately 20% of the | 4 |
| population annually affected; and
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| WHEREAS, Nationally, suicide is the leading cause of death | 6 |
| for adolescents and young adults; and over 90% of youths | 7 |
| committing suicide have experienced a mental disorder; and
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| WHEREAS, Rural teens and rural older adults have a much | 9 |
| higher rate of suicide than do their urban peers, and many of | 10 |
| these suicides could be prevented through treatment; and
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| WHEREAS, In addition to the loss of life, mental illness | 12 |
| costs Illinois an annual economic, indirect cost which reflects | 13 |
| the loss of productivity due to illness, premature death, | 14 |
| incarcerated individuals, and those providing family care; and
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| WHEREAS, Individuals with mental illness in rural areas are | 16 |
| much less likely to have access to the mental health services | 17 |
| they need; and
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| WHEREAS, There is a specific need for more mental health | 19 |
| workers to provide aftercare support; and
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| WHEREAS, Mental illness is a devastating illness that can |
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| affect any member of any family, any student in the classroom, | 2 |
| and any co-worker at a place of business; and | 3 |
| WHEREAS, All communities struggle to meet the needs of the | 4 |
| mentally ill, especially in the rural and underserved areas of | 5 |
| Illinois; and
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| WHEREAS, Key findings from the Illinois Rural Health | 7 |
| Association Mental Health Access Forum Report from 2006 | 8 |
| recommend the increased use of telemedicine and technology to | 9 |
| improve access to care, increase training opportunities, and | 10 |
| evaluate quality of care; and
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| WHEREAS, There are mentally ill patients who live great | 12 |
| distances from any mental health facility and, in rural areas, | 13 |
| may have limited transportation or limited resources for | 14 |
| transportation, or both, to obtain mental health care; and
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| WHEREAS, There are mentally ill patients with special needs | 16 |
| issues including, but not limited to: deafness; limited | 17 |
| hearing; blindness; patients who speak only a language other | 18 |
| than English; physical disabilities; and developmental | 19 |
| disabilities; and
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| WHEREAS, Hospital emergency rooms have become the default | 21 |
| provider of mental health care to mentally ill patients with |
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| acute crises and for whom no appropriate alternatives are | 2 |
| available, and the majority of emergency rooms are not staffed | 3 |
| with a psychiatrist; and
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| WHEREAS, Providing telepsychiatry services would provide | 5 |
| cost-efficient mental health care to those in underserved areas | 6 |
| or those who do not have access to providers with specialized | 7 |
| skills such as sign language or foreign language skills; and
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| WHEREAS, Telepsychiatry has been shown to be an effective | 9 |
| medium through which to deliver health and mental health care; | 10 |
| therefore
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| Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
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| represented in the General Assembly:
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| Section 5. The Illinois Public Aid Code is amended by | 14 |
| adding Section 5-5.25 as follows: | 15 |
| (305 ILCS 5/5-5.25 new) | 16 |
| Sec. 5-5.25. Access to psychiatric mental health services. | 17 |
| The General Assembly finds that providing access to psychiatric | 18 |
| mental health services in a timely manner will improve the | 19 |
| quality of life for persons suffering from mental illness and | 20 |
| will contain health care costs by avoiding the need for more | 21 |
| costly inpatient hospitalization. The Department of Healthcare |
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| and Family Services shall reimburse psychiatrists for mental | 2 |
| health services they provide, as authorized by Illinois law, to | 3 |
| recipients via telepsychiatry. The Department, by rule, shall | 4 |
| establish a method to reimburse providers for mental health | 5 |
| services provided by telepsychiatry. The reimbursement | 6 |
| methodology for mental health services provided by | 7 |
| telemedicine shall be comparable to the reimbursement | 8 |
| methodology used by the Department for other services provided | 9 |
| by telemedicine.
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| Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon | 11 |
| becoming law.
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