Insurance

As state lawmakers hold hearings targeting the role of pharmacy benefit managers – an influential arm in how the health insurance industry prices prescription drugs – multiple state agencies are considering how to better regulate the industry.

Gov. J.B. Priztker paid a visit to Silver Cross Hospital on Wednesday morning along with a group of lawmakers working to pass the Healthcare Protection Act, a bill which would reform and regulate health insurance and Medicaid in Illinois.

Democratic state Sen. Ann Gillespie of Arlington Heights will resign to lead the state agency that regulates insurance companies, Gov. JB Pritzker announced Monday.

The Will County Community Health Center has announced a new partnership with Genoa Healthcare to provide pharmacy services on-site at its Joliet clinic. The new pharmacy will be open to all residents.

Gov. JB Pritzker’s proposal for sweeping reforms in the state’s health insurance industry passed out of a committee Thursday and will soon make its way to the full House for consideration.

Proposed changes include banning prior authorization requirements for people to receive in-patient treatment at a psychiatric facility as well as all forms of so-called “step therapy” for prescription drug coverage

With Thanksgiving rapidly approaching, the Will County Health Department’s Environmental Health Division wanted to remind residents about food safety at the holidays.

Kevin J. Martin of the Illinois Insurance Association writes a letter to the editor.

Since 2015, home insurance premiums in Illinois have gone up by 30%, said George Hosfield, senior director of home insurance for LexisNexis Risk Solutions. That’s higher than the national average since 2015, which is roughly 21%.