(20 ILCS 3935/4) (from Ch. 111 1/2, par. 6604) Sec. 4. Determination of an individual transplant candidate's eligibility. (a) The Board shall have until June 30, 1985 to organize, establish all of the necessary criteria and operating procedures, and adopt such rules and regulations as it deems necessary to screen and act on such applications as it may receive under this Act. (b) The Board shall begin screening applications nominating Illinois residents who are potential or actual organ transplant recipients after July 1, 1985, and who due to limitations, exclusions or gaps in their accident and health insurance or in federal, state, and local government medical assistance programs, might be eligible to receive benefits from funds appropriated to the Department of Public Health to cover part or all of the expenses involved in undergoing an experimental organ transplantation procedure. All such applications must be in such form and contain such information as the Board shall require, and must come directly from a teaching hospital or affiliated medical center with an established and proven experimental organ transplantation program which exists for the purpose of treatment of human subjects and which is formally affiliated with or part of a school whose graduates are eligible for examination for licensing pursuant to the statutes, rules and regulations administered by the Department of Professional Regulation and whose graduates, if licensed, are eligible for admission to the medical staff of an accredited hospital. In the application the teaching hospital or affiliated medical center must certify that the nominee is a viable candidate for an organ transplant procedure, and has been medically approved by their medical specialists in this field for this procedure. All tests and applicable work-ups necessary to support such conclusions shall have been completed at the time of the application at no cost to the State of Illinois, and the results of such tests and all other applicable medical records concerning the nominee shall be forwarded to the Board for the confidential use of its members and staff only. Such medical records shall not be public records, and shall be maintained as a separate part of each nominee's application file. Such records and deliberations of the Board shall be privileged and confidential in accordance with Sections 8-2101, 8-2102, 8-2103, 8-2104 and 8-2105 of the Code of Civil Procedure, as amended, and such applications, records and deliberations of the Board are exempt from the provisions of The Freedom of Information Act. The application and supporting records must document that the nominee was a legally domiciled resident of this State at the time the pathophysiological state necessitating the organ transplantation procedure was originally identified, and that the nominee continues to be legally domiciled in the State of Illinois. (c) Screening of applications may be performed as often as necessary and may be performed by any 3 members of the Board. (d) Those applications deemed eligible by the screening team shall be referred to the full Board for final determination as to eligibility for state benefits and for recommendation to the Director of Public Health as to the level of benefits the nominee shall receive. However, in emergency situations, a screening team may make a final determination as to eligibility for state benefits. All benefits shall cover all or part of the actual costs of, rather than the billed charges for, the procedure, with no more than 10 percent of the award being allocated to professional fees. (e) Any benefits which the Board recommends to be paid on behalf of an eligible nominee shall be supplemental to any health insurance benefits that individual is otherwise entitled to, and no state benefits shall be paid to a hospital or other provider until all other health insurance benefits for that individual have been exhausted. (f) Whenever the Board recommends, and the Director of Public Health approves, payment of such benefits as are authorized by this Act or the rules and regulations promulgated hereunder shall be made from such appropriations as the General Assembly may provide for this purpose to the Department of Public Health. No one individual shall be eligible to receive more than a total of $200,000 under this Act. The maximum level of payment recommended by the Board for live donor acquisition charges shall be $10,000. No payments shall be made for complications or follow-up hospitalization for a donor of an organ transplanted under this program. (g) Meetings of the Board or any screening team for the purpose of reviewing or discussing applications are exempt from the Open Meetings Act; provided that those portions of meetings at which final determinations are made shall be public meetings. (h) A transplantation institution located outside of the State of Illinois shall not be approved for participation under this program unless such institution is closer to the residence of the patient than is any approved Illinois institution, or unless the required procedure is offered at the out-of-state institution and the procedure is not approved at any institution located within the State. (Source: P.A. 85-1209.)
