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91_SB1113eng
SB1113 Engrossed LRB9102894DHmg
1 AN ACT to amend the Illinois Act on the Aging by changing
2 Section 4.04.
3 Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
4 represented in the General Assembly:
5 Section 5. The Illinois Act on the Aging is amended by
6 changing Section 4.04 as follows:
7 (20 ILCS 105/4.04) (from Ch. 23, par. 6104.04)
8 Sec. 4.04. Long Term Care Ombudsman Program.
9 (a) Long Term Care Ombudsman Program. The Department
10 shall establish a Long Term Care Ombudsman Program, through
11 the Office of State Long Term Care Ombudsman ("the Office"),
12 in accordance with the provisions of the Older Americans Act
13 of 1965, as now or hereafter amended.
14 (b) Definitions. As used in this Section, unless the
15 context requires otherwise:
16 (1) "Access" has the same meaning as in Section
17 1-104 of the Nursing Home Care Act, as now or hereafter
18 amended; that is, it means the right to:
19 (i) Enter any long term care facility;
20 (ii) Communicate privately and without
21 restriction with any resident who consents to the
22 communication;
23 (iii) Seek consent to communicate privately
24 and without restriction with any resident;
25 (iv) Inspect the clinical and other records of
26 a resident with the express written consent of the
27 resident;
28 (v) Observe all areas of the long term care
29 facility except the living area of any resident who
30 protests the observation.
31 (2) "Long Term Care Facility" means (i) any
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1 facility as defined by Section 1-113 of the Nursing Home
2 Care Act, as now or hereafter amended; and (ii) any
3 skilled nursing facility or a nursing facility which
4 meets the requirements of Section 1819(a), (b), (c), and
5 (d) or Section 1919(a), (b), (c), and (d) of the Social
6 Security Act, as now or hereafter amended (42 U.S.C.
7 1395i-3(a), (b), (c), and (d) and 42 U.S.C. 1396r(a),
8 (b), (c), and (d)).
9 (3) "Ombudsman" means any person employed by the
10 Department to fulfill the requirements of the Office, or
11 any representative of a sub-State long term care
12 ombudsman program; provided that the representative,
13 whether he is paid for or volunteers his ombudsman
14 services, shall be qualified and authorized by the
15 Department to perform the duties of an ombudsman as
16 specified by the Department in rules.
17 (c) Ombudsman; rules. The Office of State Long Term Care
18 Ombudsman shall be composed of at least one full-time
19 ombudsman within the Department and shall include a system of
20 designated sub-State long term care ombudsman programs. Each
21 sub-State program shall be designated by the Department as a
22 subdivision of the Office and any representative of a
23 sub-State program shall be treated as a representative of the
24 Office.
25 The Department shall promulgate administrative rules to
26 establish the responsibilities of the Department and the
27 Office of State Long Term Care Ombudsman. The administrative
28 rules shall include the responsibility of the Office to
29 investigate and resolve complaints made by or on behalf of
30 residents of long term care facilities relating to actions,
31 inaction, or decisions of providers, or their
32 representatives, of long term care facilities, of public
33 agencies, or of social services agencies, which may adversely
34 affect the health, safety, welfare, or rights of such
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1 residents. When necessary and appropriate, representatives of
2 the Office shall refer complaints to the appropriate
3 regulatory State agency.
4 (d) Access and visitation rights.
5 (1) In accordance with subparagraphs (A) and (E) of
6 paragraph (3) of subsection (c) of Section 1819 and
7 subparagraphs (A) and (E) of paragraph (3) of subsection
8 (c) of Section 1919 of the Social Security Act, as now or
9 hereafter amended (42 U.S.C. 1395i-3 (c)(3)(A) and (E)
10 and 42 U.S.C. 1396r-3 (c)(3)(A) and (E)), and Section 712
11 307(a)(12) of the Older Americans Act of 1965, as now or
12 hereafter amended (42 U.S.C. 3058f), a long term care
13 facility must:
14 (i) permit immediate access to any resident by
15 an ombudsman; and
16 (ii) permit representatives of the Office,
17 with the permission of the resident's legal
18 representative or legal guardian, to examine a
19 resident's clinical and other records, and if a
20 resident is unable to consent to such review, and
21 has no legal guardian, permit representatives of the
22 Office appropriate access, as defined by the
23 Department in administrative rules, to the
24 resident's records.
25 (2) Each long term care facility shall display, in
26 multiple, conspicuous public places within the facility
27 accessible to both visitors and patients and in an easily
28 readable format, the address and phone number of the
29 Office, in a manner prescribed by the Office.
30 (e) Immunity. An ombudsman or any other representative
31 of the Office participating in the good faith performance of
32 his or her official duties shall have immunity from any
33 liability (civil, criminal or otherwise) in any proceedings
34 (civil, criminal or otherwise) brought as a consequence of
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1 the performance of his official duties.
2 (f) Business offenses.
3 (1) No person shall:
4 (i) Intentionally prevent, interfere with, or
5 attempt to impede in any way any representative of
6 the Office in the performance of his official duties
7 under this Act and the Older Americans Act of 1965;
8 or
9 (ii) Intentionally retaliate, discriminate
10 against, or effect reprisals against any long term
11 care facility resident or employee for contacting or
12 providing information to any representative of the
13 Office.
14 (2) A violation of this Section is a business
15 offense, punishable by a fine not to exceed $501.
16 (3) The Director of Aging shall notify the State's
17 Attorney of the county in which the long term care
18 facility is located, or the Attorney General, of any
19 violations of this Section.
20 (g) Confidentiality of records and identities. No files
21 or records maintained by the Office of State Long Term Care
22 Ombudsman shall be disclosed unless the State Ombudsman or
23 the ombudsman having the authority over the disposition of
24 such files authorizes the disclosure in writing. The
25 ombudsman shall not disclose the identity of any complainant,
26 resident, witness or employee of a long term care provider
27 involved in a complaint or report unless such person or such
28 person's guardian or legal representative consents in writing
29 to the disclosure, or the disclosure is required by court
30 order.
31 (h) Legal representation. The Attorney General shall
32 provide legal representation to any representative of the
33 Office against whom suit or other legal action is brought in
34 connection with the performance of the representative's
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1 official duties, in accordance with "An Act to provide for
2 representation and indemnification in certain civil law
3 suits", approved December 3, 1977, as now or hereafter
4 amended.
5 (i) Treatment by prayer and spiritual means. Nothing in
6 this Act shall be construed to authorize or require the
7 medical supervision, regulation or control of remedial care
8 or treatment of any resident in a long term care facility
9 operated exclusively by and for members or adherents of any
10 church or religious denomination the tenets and practices of
11 which include reliance solely upon spiritual means through
12 prayer for healing.
13 (Source: P.A. 90-639, eff. 1-1-99.)
14 Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon
15 becoming law.