* WGEM…
Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker signed HB 0135 into law Thursday, granting Illinoisans access to birth control over the counter.
According to state officials, the legislation removes barriers to care that may have previously prevented residents from accessing hormonal contraception, including lack of access to a physician willing to prescribe birth control.
State officials stated HB 0135 also expands Medicaid to cover over-the-counter birth control costs for plans that currently cover physician-prescribed birth control. And to ensure the price of contraception remains feasible, HB 0135 includes mandates for insurance policies regulated by the State to cover birth control that is dispensed by a pharmacist.
* Press release…
Joined by healthcare leaders and elected officials at Mount Sinai Hospital, Governor JB Pritzker today signed HB 3308 into law, increasing access to telehealth services in communities across Illinois. The new law builds upon ongoing efforts to ensure that all Illinoisans have uninterrupted access to telehealth, which they received from trusted health care providers throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. […]
The legislation prevents insurance plans from requiring a patient to attend an in-person visit before a telehealth service. It also expands the early intervention services that can be provided through telehealth. To protect confidentiality, the bill bars insurers from requiring patients to provide a reason—such as proof of hardship or an access barrier—for choosing a telehealth visit over an in-person consult. Additionally, an insurer cannot require patients see a healthcare provider virtually if they prefer an in-person visit, nor can an insurer mandate that physicians offer telehealth.
* NPR Illinois…
Starting next August, under a law passed unanimously in the General Assembly and signed last week by Gov. J.B. Pritzker, all public and private post-secondary institutions – two and four-year colleges and vocational, technical and business schools — will have to designate someone as a liaison to assist homeless students.
High school districts in Illinois have had liaisons to help homeless kids under a 1987 federal law — the McKinney-Vento Act — with issues like enrollment, access to resources and transportation. There was no such no requirement to help college students in Illinois. The new law changes that situation.
State Senator Suzy Glowiak Hilton, a lawmaker from Chicago suburb Western Springs, said she was eager to take on the legislation because she remembers hosting homeless student friends of her then-college age children.
* Center Square…
Gov. J.B. Pritzker has signed legislation that amends the state’s school code to include a media literacy unit in the existing computer literacy curriculum.
State Rep. Elizabeth Hernandez, a Democrat, filed the bill. Some Republicans opposed the bill, concerned that it would lead to school boards picking what media outlets are reputable.
House Bill 234 requires school districts to add media literacy instruction to the computer literacy curriculum.
State Sen. Karina Villa, a Democrat and chief Senate sponsor for the new legislation, said that while students are online more than ever, they are still vulnerable to misinformation.
*** UPDATE *** ISBE…
Hi Rich.
We noticed that you published an excerpt from a publication yesterday re: a media literacy law, describing it as being incorporated into the computer literacy portion of the school code. Computer literacy was incorporated into Article 10 of the school code. Once media literacy is enacted, it will be incorporated into Article 27 of the school code. The two measures are unrelated. The Public Act associated with HB234 does not even contain the word “computer.”
Thx. Hope all is well your way.
Januari Trader
Communications Specialist
Public Relations
Illinois State Board of Education
* More…
* Another Round Of Illinois Equal Pay Act Amendments
* Legislation would require some landlords to accept more pets
- Seats - Thursday, Jul 22, 21 @ 3:11 pm:
I would be furious if I was a landlord about the potential pet law change. Seems like the type of decision a homeowner should be able to set for their tenents.
- Zoomer - Thursday, Jul 22, 21 @ 3:51 pm:
What computer literacy curriculum? There is nothing anywhere in the current school code that references “computer literacy”?
- DuPage - Thursday, Jul 22, 21 @ 4:16 pm:
Decades ago, one of my kids attending NIU told me homeless students would hide in certain rooms out of sight overnight. Terrible that students are forced to do that. I guess they felt safer then trying to sleep in a park or under a bridge.
- All this - Thursday, Jul 22, 21 @ 4:19 pm:
“I would be furious if I was a landlord about the potential pet law change.”
You could always not get funds from the Affordable Act Trust Fund. Then you could avoid being furious.
- Amalia - Thursday, Jul 22, 21 @ 6:34 pm:
glad for the OTC BC. here’s hoping easier access to in person health care becomes more widely available for all.
- Zoomer - Thursday, Jul 22, 21 @ 6:38 pm:
Just read the verbiage of the final version of HB234. The word “computer” doesn’t show up anywhere in there, so I do believe Center Square missed the target on this one in associating this signed legislation with “computer literacy”.
- Seats - Thursday, Jul 22, 21 @ 7:30 pm:
All This - guess I should have read a bit more closely. Still not a fan of the change, but I foolishly thought it applied to all, I should have known better.