(740 ILCS 92/5)
Sec. 5. Patient and client procurement.
(a) Except as otherwise permitted or authorized by law, it
is unlawful to knowingly offer or pay any remuneration
directly or
indirectly, in cash or in kind, to induce any person to procure clients or
patients to obtain services
or benefits under a contract of insurance or that will be the basis for a claim
against an insured
person or the person's
insurer. Nothing in this Act shall be construed to affect any contracts or
arrangements between or among insuring entities including health maintenance
organizations, health care professionals, or health care facilities which are
hereby excluded.
(b) A person who violates any provision of this Act, Section 17-8.5 or Section 17-10.5 of the Criminal Code of 1961 or the Criminal Code of 2012, or Article 46 of the
Criminal Code of
1961 shall be subject, in addition to any other penalties that may be
prescribed by law, to a civil
penalty of not less than $5,000 nor more than $10,000, plus an assessment of
not more than 3
times the amount of each claim for compensation under a contract of insurance.
The court shall
have the power to grant other equitable relief, including temporary injunctive
relief, as is
necessary to prevent the transfer, concealment, or dissipation of illegal
proceeds, or to protect the
public. The penalty prescribed in this subsection shall be assessed for each
fraudulent claim upon
a person in which the defendant participated.
(c) The penalties set forth in subsection (b) are intended to be remedial
rather than
punitive, and shall not preclude, nor be precluded by, a criminal prosecution
for the same
conduct. If the court finds, after considering the goals of disgorging unlawful
profit, restitution,
compensating the State for the costs of investigation and prosecution, and
alleviating the social
costs of increased insurance rates due to fraud, that such a penalty would be
punitive and would
preclude, or be precluded by, a criminal prosecution, the court shall reduce
that penalty
appropriately.
(Source: P.A. 97-1150, eff. 1-25-13.)
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