HB5299 Summary

• Creates HIV Treatment Innovation Coordinator position within Department of Public Health to develop and implement Rapid Start model for HIV treatment as standard of care, with compensation at Program Director level, to be filled within 6 months of enactment.

• Requires health insurance policies amended, delivered, issued, or renewed in Illinois after January 1, 2025 to cover home test kits for sexually transmitted infections including HIV, with laboratory processing costs, without deductibles or copayments when ordered by clinicians or furnished through standing orders.

• Establishes Illinois AIDS Drug Assistance Program with 8 Rapid Start for HIV treatment pilot sites, requiring application processing within 72 hours and conditional approval within 24 hours, with applicants documenting Illinois residency.

• Requires Department of Public Health to publish report 15 months after pilot sites launch, including enrollment numbers, time from diagnosis to treatment initiation, viral load data, and demographic information, to be shared with General Assembly and Governor's Office.

• Amends County Jail Act to require annual adult correctional facility public inspection reports documenting whether jails provide HIV/AIDS information to inmates and facilitate testing options.