Substitute Senate Bill No. 1 (Public Act No. 24-19) Summary

• Home Health Worker Safety: Home health agencies must collect and provide safety information during client intake (violence history, substance use, diagnoses, local crime rates, hazards) and conduct annual health/safety training consistent with CDC/OSHA standards; agencies may receive rate enhancements for timely workplace violence reporting.

• Health Information Exchange: Expands the State-wide Health Information Exchange requirements, mandating hospitals and clinical laboratories connect within one year and other providers within two years; providers cannot be liable for breaches experienced by the exchange itself.

• Insurance and Healthcare Access: Prohibits insurers from denying reimbursement or network participation based solely on providers' decisions not to maintain specialty certification; requires coverage for coronary calcium scans; allows emergency 911 calls and ambulance transport without prior authorization.

• Multiple Health Studies and Programs: Establishes working groups and programs addressing home health/hospice worker safety, nonalcoholic fatty liver disease, nail salon worker health hazards, loneliness/social isolation, pediatric hospice services, and early intervention for schizophrenia spectrum disorders.

• Additional Health Protections: Prohibits nursing homes from rejecting applicants solely due to prior mental health services; requires hospital cybersecurity audits; creates peer-run respite centers; establishes Parkinson's disease registry; and mandates minimum nursing home staffing levels of three hours direct care per resident daily.