BELLEVILLE, Ill. (First Alert 4) – Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker is set to be at Memorial Hospital Belleville Monday amid his push to pass the Healthcare Protection Act.

”This bill will save lives,” Pritzker said at a news conference last week.

The House passed HB5395, the Healthcare Protection Act, by an 81-25 margin Thursday, with two members voting “present.” Several Republicans joined all Democrats in voting for the bill.

If signed into law, it would reform parts of the health insurance industry in Illinois.

The bill would make many changes, including:

• banning so-called “step therapy,” when an insurance company requires a patient to try and fail alternative medications before covering medications their doctor recommends.
• prohibiting prior authorization for in-person mental health treatment for the first 72 hours.
• requiring insurance company to post all procedures requiring prior authorization.
• banning so-called “junk plans”

“One of the major changes that we’re making with this bill is ensuring that when someone is having an acute mental-health crisis that they can’t be turned away from in-patient care in a hospital because of arbitrary insurance rules,” said state Rep. Anna Moeller, D-Elgin, the bill’s sponsor.

The bill is set to be debated in the Illinois Senate this week, where lawmakers expect to make some changes to improve the bill.

If moved forward, Pritzker says he plans to sign the Healthcare Protection Act into law. It would cost taxpayers an additional $30 million a year in exchange for lower health insurnace premiums and better access to services, Pritzker said.

”As far as I’m concerned, decisions about patient care are intended to be made by doctors and patients themselves, not an insurance employee with no medical background,” Pritzker said.

As part of his statewide tour, Pritzker is set to talk with doctors and patients at Memorial Hospital Belleville outside the Orthopedics and Neurosciences Center at 10 a.m. Monday.

Copyright 2024 KMOV. All rights reserved.