NURSING HOMES-DIRECTORY

104th Regular Session Introduced by Patrick Joyce

Illinois nursing home directory will include each facility’s website address to improve public access to information.

Summary — SB 1229 (Nursing Homes — Directory)

Status and jurisdiction
- Jurisdiction: Illinois (amends the Nursing Home Care Act; 210 ILCS 45/2‑207).
- Sponsor (Introduced): Sen. Patrick J. Joyce.
- Legislative status (per provided actions): Passed both chambers, signed by the Governor 2025-05-21; effective date 2025-09-01.

Purpose / Intent
- To expand the information the Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) is required to publish each year in its public‑health‑region Directory of nursing facilities by adding the facility’s website address (if any). The change is intended to improve public access to facility information and online resources.

Key provisions
- Amends Section 2‑207 of the Nursing Home Care Act (210 ILCS 45/2‑207).
- Requires the annual Directory (published by IDPH for each public health region and made available to the public and IDPH offices) to include, at minimum, the following items (existing list retained) plus:
- (7) The facility website address, if any.
- Retains prior provisions that:
- Allow IDPH to charge a fee for the Directory.
- Require facilities to make detailed information about basic costs and operating policies available on request, subject to a facility’s right to refuse disclosure of proprietary operating policies to the extent the facility reasonably believes disclosure would reveal information to a competitor.

Who or what is affected
- Primary: Nursing facilities licensed under the Nursing Home Care Act — the Directory will list their website addresses if they maintain one.
- Secondary: Illinois Department of Public Health (administrative task of including website addresses in the Directory); consumers, families, referral sources, and other members of the public who use the Directory to research facilities.

Practical impact
- Low administrative burden: adding a website field to the Directory is a modest data‑collection and publication change for IDPH and facilities.
- Improved consumer access: consumers and families can more easily find facility webpages for additional information (e.g., services, admissions, photos, policies).
- Transparency: complements existing requirements that facilities provide cost and operating policy information on request (subject to limited proprietary exceptions).

Effective date and implementation
- Signed by Governor: 2025-05-21 (per provided record).
- Effective date: September 1, 2025.

Note on document contents
- The materials supplied also include text for a different SB 1229 (an Arizona bill titled the "Arizona Starter Homes Act" concerning municipal planning and home design). That is a distinct bill in another state and is unrelated to the Illinois Nursing Home Care Act amendment summarized above. If you want a separate summary of the Arizona bill, I can provide one.