Public Act 099-0857
 
SB2929 EnrolledLRB099 20556 KTG 45107 b

    AN ACT concerning public aid.
 
    Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
represented in the General Assembly:
 
    Section 5. The Hospital Licensing Act is amended by
changing Section 6.09 as follows:
 
    (210 ILCS 85/6.09)  (from Ch. 111 1/2, par. 147.09)
    Sec. 6.09. (a) In order to facilitate the orderly
transition of aged patients and patients with disabilities from
hospitals to post-hospital care, whenever a patient who
qualifies for the federal Medicare program is hospitalized, the
patient shall be notified of discharge at least 24 hours prior
to discharge from the hospital. With regard to pending
discharges to a skilled nursing facility, the hospital must
notify the case coordination unit, as defined in 89 Ill. Adm.
Code 240.260, at least 24 hours prior to discharge. When the
assessment is completed in the hospital, the case coordination
unit shall provide the discharge planner with a copy of the
required assessment documentation directly to the nursing home
to which the patient is being discharged prior to discharge.
The Department on Aging shall provide notice of this
requirement to case coordination units. When a case
coordination unit is unable to complete an assessment in a
hospital prior to the discharge of a patient, 60 years of age
or older, to a nursing home, the case coordination unit shall
notify the Department on Aging which shall notify the
Department of Healthcare and Family Services. The Department of
Healthcare and Family Services and the Department on Aging
shall adopt rules to address these instances to ensure that the
patient is able to access nursing home care, the nursing home
is not penalized for accepting the admission, and the patient's
timely discharge from the hospital is not delayed, to the
extent permitted under federal law or regulation. Nothing in
this subsection shall preclude federal requirements for a
pre-admission screening/mental health (PAS/MH) as required
under Section 2-201.5 of the Nursing Home Care Act or State or
federal law or regulation. prescreening information and
accompanying materials, which the discharge planner shall
transmit when the patient is discharged to a skilled nursing
facility. If home health services are ordered, the hospital
must inform its designated case coordination unit, as defined
in 89 Ill. Adm. Code 240.260, of the pending discharge and must
provide the patient with the case coordination unit's telephone
number and other contact information.
    (b) Every hospital shall develop procedures for a physician
with medical staff privileges at the hospital or any
appropriate medical staff member to provide the discharge
notice prescribed in subsection (a) of this Section. The
procedures must include prohibitions against discharging or
referring a patient to any of the following if unlicensed,
uncertified, or unregistered: (i) a board and care facility, as
defined in the Board and Care Home Act; (ii) an assisted living
and shared housing establishment, as defined in the Assisted
Living and Shared Housing Act; (iii) a facility licensed under
the Nursing Home Care Act, the Specialized Mental Health
Rehabilitation Act of 2013, the ID/DD Community Care Act, or
the MC/DD Act; (iv) a supportive living facility, as defined in
Section 5-5.01a of the Illinois Public Aid Code; or (v) a
free-standing hospice facility licensed under the Hospice
Program Licensing Act if licensure, certification, or
registration is required. The Department of Public Health shall
annually provide hospitals with a list of licensed, certified,
or registered board and care facilities, assisted living and
shared housing establishments, nursing homes, supportive
living facilities, facilities licensed under the ID/DD
Community Care Act, the MC/DD Act, or the Specialized Mental
Health Rehabilitation Act of 2013, and hospice facilities.
Reliance upon this list by a hospital shall satisfy compliance
with this requirement. The procedure may also include a waiver
for any case in which a discharge notice is not feasible due to
a short length of stay in the hospital by the patient, or for
any case in which the patient voluntarily desires to leave the
hospital before the expiration of the 24 hour period.
    (c) At least 24 hours prior to discharge from the hospital,
the patient shall receive written information on the patient's
right to appeal the discharge pursuant to the federal Medicare
program, including the steps to follow to appeal the discharge
and the appropriate telephone number to call in case the
patient intends to appeal the discharge.
    (d) Before transfer of a patient to a long term care
facility licensed under the Nursing Home Care Act where elderly
persons reside, a hospital shall as soon as practicable
initiate a name-based criminal history background check by
electronic submission to the Department of State Police for all
persons between the ages of 18 and 70 years; provided, however,
that a hospital shall be required to initiate such a background
check only with respect to patients who:
        (1) are transferring to a long term care facility for
    the first time;
        (2) have been in the hospital more than 5 days;
        (3) are reasonably expected to remain at the long term
    care facility for more than 30 days;
        (4) have a known history of serious mental illness or
    substance abuse; and
        (5) are independently ambulatory or mobile for more
    than a temporary period of time.
    A hospital may also request a criminal history background
check for a patient who does not meet any of the criteria set
forth in items (1) through (5).
    A hospital shall notify a long term care facility if the
hospital has initiated a criminal history background check on a
patient being discharged to that facility. In all circumstances
in which the hospital is required by this subsection to
initiate the criminal history background check, the transfer to
the long term care facility may proceed regardless of the
availability of criminal history results. Upon receipt of the
results, the hospital shall promptly forward the results to the
appropriate long term care facility. If the results of the
background check are inconclusive, the hospital shall have no
additional duty or obligation to seek additional information
from, or about, the patient.
(Source: P.A. 98-104, eff. 7-22-13; 98-651, eff. 6-16-14;
99-143, eff. 7-27-15; 99-180, eff. 7-29-15; revised 10-14-15.)