Illinois General Assembly - Full Text of Public Act 095-0702
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Public Act 095-0702


 

Public Act 0702 95TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY



 


 
Public Act 095-0702
 
HB1759 Re-Enrolled LRB095 09579 KBJ 29779 b

    AN ACT concerning public health.
 
    WHEREAS, The majority of children who are infected with
human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) acquire the virus from their
mothers during pregnancy; and
 
    WHEREAS, More than one million Americans are infected with
HIV, and 40,000 new cases of HIV occur each year; and
 
    WHEREAS, More than one-quarter of persons with HIV do not
know they are infected and contribute to up to 70% of new cases
of HIV each year; and
 
    WHEREAS, Pregnant women, particularly women of color, are
at high risk for acquiring HIV, but often do not know they
carry the risk of transmitting the virus to their newborns; and
 
    WHEREAS, More than 99% of mother-to-newborn transmissions
of HIV can be prevented if a pregnant woman is tested for HIV
and treated with medications before the birth of her child; and
 
    WHEREAS, National recommendations for preventing
mother-to-newborn HIV infection from authorities, including
the Institute of Medicine, the Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention, the American College of Obstetricians and
Gynecologists, the American Academy of Pediatrics, the
Presidential Advisory Council on HIV/AIDS, and the National
Congress of Black Women, indicate that the most effective way
to prevent mother-to-newborn HIV transmission is through
routine prenatal testing of all pregnant women with the right
to refuse; and
 
    WHEREAS, Nearly 300 babies have been born with HIV in
Illinois since 1994 since it was demonstrated that prenatal HIV
testing and treatment can prevent mother-to-newborn HIV
infection; and
 
    WHEREAS, The earlier in a pregnancy a woman is identified
as having HIV, the greater the opportunity to provide her with
more effective care for herself and prevent transmission of HIV
to her newborn; and
 
    WHEREAS, The public health will be served by expanding the
availability of informed, voluntary, and confidential HIV
testing and making HIV testing a routine part of general
medical care, as recommended by the United States Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention; therefore
 
    Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
represented in the General Assembly:
 
    Section 5. The Perinatal HIV Prevention Act is amended by
changing Sections 10 and 15 as follows:
 
    (410 ILCS 335/10)
    Sec. 10. HIV counseling and offer of HIV testing required.
    (a) Every health care professional who provides health care
services to a pregnant woman shall, unless she has already been
tested during the current pregnancy, provide the woman with HIV
counseling, as described in subpart (d) of this Section, and
shall test her for HIV unless she refuses. A refusal may be
verbal or in writing. recommend HIV testing, unless she has
already received an HIV test during pregnancy. HIV testing
shall be provided with the woman's consent. A health care
professional shall provide the counseling and recommend the
testing as early in the woman's pregnancy as possible. For
women at continued risk of exposure to HIV infection in the
judgment of the health care professional, a repeat test should
be recommended late in pregnancy or at the time of labor and
delivery. The health care professional shall inform the
pregnant woman that, should she refuse HIV testing during
pregnancy, her newborn infant will be tested for HIV. The
counseling and testing or refusal of testing recommendation of
testing shall be documented in the woman's medical record.
    (b) Every health care professional or facility that cares
for a pregnant woman during labor or delivery shall, unless she
has already been tested during the current pregnancy, provide
the woman with HIV counseling, as described in subpart (d) of
this Section, and recommend HIV testing unless she refuses. A
refusal may be verbal or in writing. HIV testing shall be
provided with the woman's consent. No counseling or offer of
testing is required if already provided during the woman's
pregnancy. The counseling and testing or refusal of testing and
offer of testing shall be documented in the woman's medical
record. The health care facility shall adopt a policy that
provides that as soon as possible within medical standards
after the infant's birth, the mother's HIV test result, if
available, shall be noted in the newborn infant's medical
record. It shall also be noted in the newborn infant's medical
record if the mother's HIV test result is not available because
she has not been tested or has declined testing. Any testing or
test results shall be documented in accordance with the AIDS
Confidentiality Act.
    (c) Every health care professional or facility caring for a
newborn infant shall, upon delivery or as soon as possible
within medical standards after the infant's birth, provide
counseling as described in subsection (d) of this Section to
the parent or guardian of the infant and perform rapid HIV
testing on the infant, when the HIV status of the infant's
mother is unknown.
    (d) The counseling required under this Section must be
provided in accordance with the AIDS Confidentiality Act and
must include the following:
        (1) For the health of the pregnant woman, the voluntary
    nature of the testing, and the benefits of HIV testing,
    including the prevention of transmission, and the
    requirement that HIV testing be performed unless she
    refuses and the methods by which she can refuse.
        (2) The benefit of HIV testing for herself and the
    newborn infant, including interventions to prevent HIV
    transmission.
        (3) The side effects of interventions to prevent HIV
    transmission.
        (4) The statutory confidentiality provisions that
    relate to HIV and acquired immune deficiency syndrome
    ("AIDS") testing.
        (5) The requirement for mandatory testing of the
    newborn if the mother's HIV status is unknown at the time
    of delivery.
        (6) An explanation of the test, including its purpose,
    limitations, and the meaning of its results.
        (7) An explanation of the procedures to be followed.
        (8) The availability of additional or confirmatory
    testing, if appropriate. Counseling may be provided in
    writing, verbally, or by video, electronic, or other means.
    The woman must be offered an opportunity to ask questions
    about testing and to decline testing for herself.
    (e) All counseling and testing must be performed in
accordance with the standards set forth in the AIDS
Confidentiality Act, including the written informed consent
provisions of Sections 4, 7, and 8 of that Act, with the
exception of the requirement of consent for testing of newborn
infants.
     Consent for testing of a newborn infant shall be presumed
when a health care professional or health care facility seeks
to perform a test on a newborn infant whose mother's HIV status
is not known, provided that the counseling required under
subsection (d) of this Section and the AIDS Confidentiality Act
has taken place.
    (f) The Illinois Department of Public Health shall adopt
necessary rules to implement this Act by July 1, 2008.
(Source: P.A. 93-566, eff. 8-20-03; 94-910, eff. 6-23-06.)
 
    (410 ILCS 335/15)
    Sec. 15. Reporting.
    (a) A health care facility shall adopt a policy that
provides that a report of a preliminarily HIV-positive woman
and a report of a preliminarily HIV-exposed newborn infant
identified by a rapid HIV test conducted during labor and
delivery or after delivery shall be made to the Department's
Perinatal HIV Hotline within 24 hours after birth. Section 15
of the AIDS Confidentiality Act applies to reporting under this
Act, except that the immunities set forth in that Section do
not apply in cases of willful or wanton misconduct.
    (b) The Department shall adopt rules specifying the
information required in reporting the preliminarily
HIV-positive woman and preliminarily HIV-exposed newborn
infant and the method of reporting. In adopting the rules, the
Department shall consider the need for information,
protections for the privacy and confidentiality of the infant
and parents, the need to provide access to care and follow-up
services to the infant, and procedures for destruction of
records maintained by the Department if, through subsequent HIV
testing, the woman or newborn infant is found to be
HIV-negative.
    (c) The confidentiality provisions of the AIDS
Confidentiality Act shall apply to the reports of cases of
perinatal HIV made pursuant to this Section.
    (d) Health care facilities shall monthly report aggregate
statistics to the Department that include the number of
infected women who presented with known HIV status, the number
of pregnant women rapidly tested for HIV in labor and delivery,
the number of newborn infants rapidly tested for HIV-exposure,
the number of preliminarily HIV-positive pregnant women and
preliminarily HIV-exposed newborn infants identified, the
number of families referred to case management, and other
information the Department determines is necessary to measure
progress under the provisions of this Act. Health care
facilities must report the confirmatory test result when it
becomes available for each preliminarily positive rapid HIV
test performed on the woman and newborn.
    (e) The Department or its authorized representative shall
provide case management services to the preliminarily positive
pregnant woman or the parent or guardian of the preliminarily
positive newborn infant to ensure access to treatment and care
and other services as appropriate if the parent or guardian has
consented to the services.
    (f) Every health care facility caring for a newborn infant
whose mother had been diagnosed HIV positive prior to labor and
delivery shall report a case of perinatal HIV exposure in
accordance with the HIV/AIDS Registry Act, the Illinois
Sexually Transmissible Disease Control Act, and rules to be
developed by the Department. If after 18 months from the date
that the report was submitted, a newborn infant is determined
to not have HIV or AIDS, the Department shall remove the
newborn infant's name from all reports, records, and files
collected or created under this subsection (f).
(Source: P.A. 94-910, eff. 6-23-06.)

Effective Date: 6/1/2008