Bill Text: IL HB4949 | 2017-2018 | 100th General Assembly | Chaptered

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Bill Title: Amends the Consumer Fraud and Deceptive Business Practices Act. Provides that it is an unlawful practice for any person to engage in misleading or false advertising or promotion that misrepresents the need to seek mental health disorder or substance use disorder treatment outside of the State of Illinois. Requires any marketing, advertising, promotional, or sales materials directed to Illinois residents concerning mental health disorder or substance use disorder treatment to (i) prominently display or announce the full physical address of the treatment program or facility; (ii) include a link to the Internet website for the Department of Human Services' Division of Mental Health and Division of Alcoholism and Substance Abuse; and (iii) provide that mental health disorder and substance use disorder treatment may be available at a reduced cost or for free for Illinois residents. Prohibits arrangements under which a patient seeking mental health disorder or substance use disorder treatment is referred to a mental health disorder or substance use disorder treatment program or facility in exchange for a fee or other remuneration. Amends the Health Care Worker Self-Referral Act. Provides that a violation of any provision of the Act constitutes an unlawful practice under the Consumer Fraud and Deceptive Business Practices Act. Amends the Medical Practice Act of 1987. Provides that a violation of the Act's prohibition against fee splitting constitutes an unlawful practice under the Consumer Fraud and Deceptive Business Practices Act.

Spectrum: Moderate Partisan Bill (Democrat 14-2)

Status: (Passed) 2018-08-24 - Public Act . . . . . . . . . 100-1058 [HB4949 Detail]

Download: Illinois-2017-HB4949-Chaptered.html

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Public Act 100-1058
HB4949 Enrolled LRB100 16226 KTG 31349 b
AN ACT concerning business.
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
represented in the General Assembly:
Section 1. The Health Care Worker Self-Referral Act is
amended by adding Section 55 as follows:
(225 ILCS 47/55 new)
Sec. 55. Application of the Consumer Fraud and Deceptive
Business Practices Act. A violation of any of the provisions of
this Act constitutes an unlawful practice under the Consumer
Fraud and Deceptive Business Practices Act. All remedies,
penalties, and authority granted to the Attorney General or
State's Attorney by the Consumer Fraud and Deceptive Business
Practices Act shall be available to him or her for the
enforcement of this Act. This Section does not apply to
hospitals and hospital affiliates licensed in Illinois.
Section 5. The Medical Practice Act of 1987 is amended by
changing Section 22.2 as follows:
(225 ILCS 60/22.2)
(Section scheduled to be repealed on December 31, 2019)
Sec. 22.2. Prohibition against fee splitting.
(a) A licensee under this Act may not directly or

indirectly divide, share or split any professional fee or other
form of compensation for professional services with anyone in
exchange for a referral or otherwise, other than as provided in
this Section 22.2.
(b) Nothing contained in this Section abrogates the right
of 2 or more licensed health care workers as defined in the
Health Care Worker Self-referral Act to each receive adequate
compensation for concurrently rendering services to a patient
and to divide the fee for such service, provided that the
patient has full knowledge of the division and the division is
made in proportion to the actual services personally performed
and responsibility assumed by each licensee consistent with his
or her license, except as prohibited by law.
(c) Nothing contained in this Section prohibits a licensee
under this Act from practicing medicine through or within any
form of legal entity authorized to conduct business in this
State or from pooling, sharing, dividing, or apportioning the
professional fees and other revenues in accordance with the
agreements and policies of the entity provided:
(1) each owner of the entity is licensed under this
Act;
(2) the entity is organized under the Medical
Corporation Act, the Professional Services Corporation
Act, the Professional Association Act, or the Limited
Liability Company Act;
(3) the entity is allowed by Illinois law to provide

physician services or employ physicians such as a licensed
hospital or hospital affiliate or licensed ambulatory
surgical treatment center owned in full or in part by
Illinois-licensed physicians;
(4) the entity is a combination or joint venture of the
entities authorized under this subsection (c); or
(5) the entity is an Illinois not for profit
corporation that is recognized as exempt from the payment
of federal income taxes as an organization described in
Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code and all of
its members are full-time faculty members of a medical
school that offers a M.D. degree program that is accredited
by the Liaison Committee on Medical Education and a program
of graduate medical education that is accredited by the
Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education.
(d) Nothing contained in this Section prohibits a licensee
under this Act from paying a fair market value fee to any
person or entity whose purpose is to perform billing,
administrative preparation, or collection services based upon
a percentage of professional service fees billed or collected,
a flat fee, or any other arrangement that directly or
indirectly divides professional fees, for the administrative
preparation of the licensee's claims or the collection of the
licensee's charges for professional services, provided that:
(i) the licensee or the licensee's practice under
subsection (c) of this Section at all times controls the

amount of fees charged and collected; and
(ii) all charges collected are paid directly to the
licensee or the licensee's practice or are deposited
directly into an account in the name of and under the sole
control of the licensee or the licensee's practice or
deposited into a "Trust Account" by a licensed collection
agency in accordance with the requirements of Section 8(c)
of the Illinois Collection Agency Act.
(e) Nothing contained in this Section prohibits the
granting of a security interest in the accounts receivable or
fees of a licensee under this Act or the licensee's practice
for bona fide advances made to the licensee or licensee's
practice provided the licensee retains control and
responsibility for the collection of the accounts receivable
and fees.
(f) Excluding payments that may be made to the owners of or
licensees in the licensee's practice under subsection (c), a
licensee under this Act may not divide, share or split a
professional service fee with, or otherwise directly or
indirectly pay a percentage of the licensee's professional
service fees, revenues or profits to anyone for: (i) the
marketing or management of the licensee's practice, (ii)
including the licensee or the licensee's practice on any
preferred provider list, (iii) allowing the licensee to
participate in any network of health care providers, (iv)
negotiating fees, charges or terms of service or payment on

behalf of the licensee, or (v) including the licensee in a
program whereby patients or beneficiaries are provided an
incentive to use the services of the licensee.
(g) A violation of any of the provisions of this Section
constitutes an unlawful practice under the Consumer Fraud and
Deceptive Business Practices Act. All remedies, penalties, and
authority granted to the Attorney General by the Consumer Fraud
and Deceptive Business Practices Act shall be available to him
or her for the enforcement of this Section. This subsection
does not apply to hospitals and hospital affiliates licensed in
Illinois.
(Source: P.A. 96-608, eff. 8-24-09; 96-1126, eff. 7-20-10.)
Section 10. The Consumer Fraud and Deceptive Business
Practices Act is amended by adding Section 2VVV as follows:
(815 ILCS 505/2VVV new)
Sec. 2VVV. Deceptive marketing, advertising, and sale of
mental health disorder and substance use disorder treatment.
(a) As used in this Section:
"Facility" has the meaning ascribed to that term in Section
1-10 of the Alcoholism and Other Drug Abuse and Dependency Act.
"Hospital affiliate" has the meaning ascribed to that term
in Section 10.8 of the Hospital Licensing Act.
"Mental health disorder" has the same meaning as "mental
illness" under Section 1-129 of the Mental Health and

Developmental Disabilities Code.
"Program" has the meaning ascribed to that term in Section
1-10 of the Alcoholism and Other Drug Abuse and Dependency Act.
"Substance use disorder" has the same meaning as "substance
abuse" under Section 1-10 of the Alcoholism and Other Drug
Abuse and Dependency Act.
"Treatment" has the meaning ascribed to that term in
Section 1-10 of the Alcoholism and Other Drug Abuse and
Dependency Act.
(b) It is an unlawful practice for any person to engage in
misleading or false advertising or promotion that
misrepresents the need to seek mental health disorder or
substance use disorder treatment outside of the State of
Illinois.
(c) Any marketing, advertising, promotional, or sales
materials directed to Illinois residents concerning mental
health disorder or substance use disorder treatment must:
(1) prominently display or announce the full physical
address of the treatment program or facility;
(2) display whether the treatment program or facility
is licensed in the State of Illinois;
(3) display whether the treatment program or facility
has locations in Illinois;
(4) display whether the services provided by the
treatment program or facility are covered by an insurance
policy issued to an Illinois resident;

(5) display whether the treatment program or facility
is an in-network or out-of-network provider;
(6) include a link to the Internet website for the
Department of Human Services' Division of Mental Health and
Division of Alcoholism and Substance Abuse, or any
successor State agency that provides information regarding
licensed providers of services; and
(7) disclose that mental health disorder and substance
use disorder treatment may be available at a reduced cost
or for free for Illinois residents within the State of
Illinois.
(d) It is an unlawful practice for any person to enter into
an arrangement under which a patient seeking mental health
disorder or substance use disorder treatment is referred to a
mental health disorder or substance use disorder treatment
program or facility in exchange for a fee, a percentage of the
treatment program's or facility's revenues that are related to
the patient, or any other remuneration that takes into account
the volume or value of the referrals to the treatment program
or facility. Such practice shall also be considered a violation
of the prohibition against fee splitting in Section 22.2 of the
Medical Practice Act of 1987 and a violation of the Health Care
Worker Self-Referral Act. This Section does not apply to health
insurance companies, health maintenance organizations, managed
care plans, or organizations, including hospitals and hospital
affiliates licensed in Illinois.