(225 ILCS 62/5)
Sec. 5.
Nondiscrimination.
(a) It is the policy of this State that holders of M.D. degrees and D.O.
degrees shall be accorded equal professional status and privileges as
physicians licensed to practice medicine in all its branches.
(b) It is the policy of this State that allopathic and osteopathic health
facilities shall be accorded equal status and privileges as licensed hospitals.
(c) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, no hospital licensed under
the Hospital Licensing Act, no health care service plan, managed health care
plan, health maintenance organization plan, preferred provider plan, or managed
competition plan, no policy of disability insurance, no self-insured employer
welfare benefit plan, no health insurance purchasing cooperative, no other
insurance policy, plan, or arrangement for the purchase, payment, or
reimbursement of health care, and no agency of the State or of any
municipality, county, district, or other political subdivision of the State
shall discriminate with respect to employment, staff privileges, or the
provision of, or contracts for, professional services against a physician
licensed to practice medicine in all its branches on the basis of whether the
physician holds an M.D. or D.O. degree, his or her race, color, creed,
religion, sex, or national origin.
(d) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, any hospital licensed under
the Hospital Licensing Act, whether allopathic or osteopathic in identity,
shall be deemed equal under the law. No health care service plan, managed
health care plan, health maintenance organization plan, preferred provider
plan, or managed competition plan, no policy of disability insurance,
no self-insured employer welfare benefit plan, no health insurance purchasing
cooperative, no other insurance policy, plan, or arrangement for the purchase,
payment, or reimbursement of health care, and no agency of the State or of any
municipality, county, district, or other political subdivision of the
State shall discriminate with respect to the provision of, or contracts for,
health care or related services against a licensed hospital on the basis of its
identity as either an allopathic or osteopathic hospital.
(e) Whenever hospital medical staff requirements for staff membership or
department clinical privileges mandate that the physician who has been granted
privileges be certified or eligible for certification by an appropriate
American medical board, that hospital must consider on an equal basis
certification or eligibility for certification by the appropriate American
osteopathic board.
(f) Whenever an entity that contracts with physicians to provide managed
care or risk-based care requires that the physician who is responsible for the
contract be certified or eligible for certification by an appropriate American
medical board, the contract reference to an American medical board shall be
construed to include American osteopathic boards on an equal basis when the
contracting physician is either an allopathic or osteopathic physician.
(g) Whenever an entity contracts with health facilities to provide health
care services, managed care, or risk-based care and requires that those
facilities be accredited by the Joint Commission for the Accreditation of
Healthcare Organizations (JCAHO), the contract reference to JCAHO
accreditation shall be construed to include American Osteopathic Association
(AOA) accreditation on an equal basis.
(Source: P.A. 88-595, eff. 8-26-94.)
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