Today State Senator Seth Lewis (R-Bartlett) passed three bills that are now on their way to the Governor for final action. An additional bill for which Lewis serves as the Chief Co-Sponsor is also headed to Governor Pritzker’s desk.
“One of the bills I passed this week expands access to lifesaving cancer screenings, and another for which I serve as the Chief Co-Sponsor provides cancer patients with access to cutting-edge treatment options,” said Lewis. “Through these two pieces of legislation, we will improve people’s chances of beating cancer.”
House Bill 3202 seeks to amend the Illinois Insurance Code to mandate coverage for home saliva cancer screening tests every two years for at-risk individuals in the state. It is Senator Lewis’ second piece of legislation that provides for insurance coverage for biomarker testing for cancers. In 2021, he passed House Bill 2109, known as “Cal’s Law,” which provides for individualized cancer treatment through diagnostic biomarker testing for children with cancer.
House Bill 2799 would require insurance companies and managed care plans to provide coverage for medically necessary proton beam therapy for the treatment of cancer, and prohibits insurers and managed care plan providers from requiring a higher standard of clinical evidence deeming the proton beam treatment necessary.
This week Senator Lewis also passed House Bill 2094, a consumer protection measure intended to help protect homeowners from deceptive marketing practices. It would put additional safeguards in place to restrict how junk mail generators can use the name of a bank or credit union.
“This bill will help Illinois crack down on deceptive mortgage marketing companies, and help unknowing consumers from being scammed,” said Lewis. “Because mortgage information is publicly available at county clerks’ offices, bad actors in marketing firms can freely access that data and use it to mislead consumers since people are much more likely to open a letter they believe is coming from their own bank or mortgage company.”
The Senator also passed House Bill 2622, an initiative of the Forest District of DuPage County, which would amend the Downstate Forest Preserve District Act to remove a burdensome restriction that limits the number of years districts can maintain a landfill expense fund.