Committed to strengthening healthcare protections and patient safety for residents statewide, Assistant Majority Leader Dagmara “Dee” Avelar, D-Bolingbrook, A measures was passed out of the Health Care Availability & Accessibility Committee to be considered on the House floor later this Spring.
In effort to expand state protections for reproductive healthcare, Avelar’s House Bill 3637 passed out of the Health Care Availability & Accessibility Committee and would strengthen Illinois’ Shield Law by reinforcing the Illinois Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act to safeguard access to medication abortion. The measure “future-proofs” Illinois law and preempts federal overreach, ensuring residents have access to medically necessary and life-saving reproductive health medications.
Additionally, Avelar passed House Bill 3593 out of the committee, extending protections under the Fair Patient Billing Act to patients who receive services from third-party vendors, reinforcing explicitly that if a hospital outsources a service, patients aren’t met with excessive charges and costs that would otherwise be covered under the Act.
Avelar advanced several measures to expand workforce opportunity, enhance housing rights, and improve protections for small businesses, which will be among the legislation considered on the House floor this Spring.
