Amends the Counties Code and the Illinois Municipal Code. Provides that, if a municipality or county, including a home rule municipality or county, is a self-insurer for purposes of providing health insurance coverage for its employees, the insurance coverage shall include mental health counseling for any employee who is a first responder, including police and corrections officers, deputy sheriffs, firefighters, or emergency medical services personnel, without imposing a deductible, coinsurance, copayment, or any other cost-sharing requirement on the coverage provided. Specifies that this requirement does not apply to the extent such coverage would disqualify a high-deductible health plan from eligibility for a health savings account pursuant to the Internal Revenue Code. Limits home rule powers by providing that the requirement that mental health counseling be included in health insurance coverage is an exclusive power and function of the State.
House Floor Amendment No. 1: Replaces everything after the enacting clause. Reinserts the provisions of the engrossed bill with the following changes. Provides that the mental health counseling shall be included in the health insurance coverage for employees on and after June 1, 2025. Provides that the first responders eligible to receive the mental health counseling also include emergency medical services personnel dispatched pursuant to a 9-1-1 call (rather than medical services personnel, in the engrossed bill), public safety telecommunicators, emergency medical dispatchers, and mental health professionals employed and dispatched by any unit of local government in response to emergency crisis calls received on public emergency service lines instead of or in conjunction with law enforcement. Defines mental health counseling.
House Floor Amendment No. 2: Adds provisions amending the Fire Protection District Act. Provides that, if a fire protection district is a self-insurer for purposes of providing health insurance coverage for its employees, the insurance coverage shall include, on and after June 1, 2025, mental health counseling for any employee who is a first responder without imposing a deductible, coinsurance, copayment, or any other cost-sharing requirement on the coverage provided, except that this requirement does not apply to the extent such coverage would disqualify a high-deductible health plan from eligibility for a health savings account under a specified provision of the Internal Revenue Code. Defines the terms "first responder" and "mental health counseling".
Statutes affected: Introduced: 55 ILCS 5/5, 65 ILCS 5/10
Engrossed: 55 ILCS 5/5, 65 ILCS 5/10
Enrolled: 55 ILCS 5/5, 65 ILCS 5/10, 70 ILCS 705/6
Public Act: 55 ILCS 5/5, 65 ILCS 5/10, 70 ILCS 705/6