State Representative Dan Swanson of Alpha passed legislation in the Illinois House on Thursday, March 28th that will give Lyme sufferers insurance coverage for antibiotics and testing. The representative was concerned about treatments for long-term Lyme disease tick-borne diseases. “House Bill 889 mandates insurance coverage for antibiotic therapy for a person with a tick-borne disease,” Swanson said on the House floor. “Many Lyme sufferers are paying for health insurance expecting coverage. After initial care, their insurance does not cover their medical expenses.” Some doctors and patients believe that long-term antibiotic treatments are necessary to completely cure a patient of tick borne diseases while the general medical consensus is that more limited 2-4 week treatment is necessary. “So this mandates insurance companies cover additional medical requirements – most likely antibiotics – for continued care of their Lyme treatment plans.” With his legislation, Swanson wants to see that patients get as much treatment as their doctors believe is necessary and are not limited in coverage by disagreements in the medical profession.
According to Swanson, some regional offices of education will not allow school districts under their education service region to hire substitute teachers that have a background check completed by another regional office even if they have an approved certificate. Legislation sponsored by the representative will allow the State Board to have an online database of all approved certificates for the substitute so that school districts may employ a substitute teacher based on the approved certificate listed on the State Board’s educator license database. This would allow the substitute to apply in one regional office and have them teach in any district in the state. “I had talked to 20 area superintendents and they’re concerned about their substitute teacher shortage,” Swanson said. “When we talked about it, we realized: a substitute teacher, when they register at one regional office of education, they need to register at other regional offices of education to maintain that certification. With my legislation, if they register in one ROE – it’s a state license and it should be across the whole state.” House Bill 2982 has been approved in committee and now heads to the full House for consideration.
