Permitting counties and municipalities to enter into memoranda of understanding for demolition of dilapidated structures

2025 Regular Session Introduced by J.B. Akers and 6 co-sponsors

HB 3133 directs Illinois DPH to create a statewide prescription drug discount card to lower residents' out-of-pocket costs, with funding and details to be set by rule.

Chapter 187, Acts, Regular Session, 2025

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Summary — HB 3133: DPH — Prescription Drug Discount Card Program

Status
- Bill number: HB 3133 (Rep. Hoan Huynh, primary)
- Amends: Department of Public Health Powers and Duties Law (adds 20 ILCS 2310/2310‑733)
- Introduced: February 18, 2025
- Enacted: Signed by Governor June 20, 2025
- Effective date: September 1, 2025
- Procedural note: Referred and considered in multiple committees; enrolled and passed both chambers in May–June 2025

Purpose
- Directs the Illinois Department of Public Health (DPH) to create and operate a statewide prescription drug discount card program intended to help consumers obtain lower out‑of‑pocket prices for prescription medications.

Key provisions
- Establishment: Adds a new statutory section requiring DPH to create a prescription drug discount card program in Illinois (20 ILCS 2310/2310‑733).
- Implementation timeline: The Department must start the program “as soon as reasonably practicable” after the bill’s effective date (Sept. 1, 2025).
- Rulemaking: DPH is authorized and required to adopt whatever administrative rules are necessary to operate the program.
- No further program details are included in the statute (see limitations below).

What the bill does not specify
- The statute does not appropriate funds, set a program budget, or identify funding sources.
- It does not specify eligibility criteria, benefit design, discount amounts, participating pharmacies, enrollment procedures, or whether a private vendor or pharmacy benefit manager (PBM) will administer the program.
- It does not amend insurance law or create an insurance product; it is described as a discount card program, not insurance coverage.

Who is affected / potential impacts
- Primary beneficiaries would be Illinois residents who pay retail prices for prescription drugs — especially uninsured or underinsured consumers — if the program secures discounts.
- DPH will bear the administrative responsibility for creating and implementing the program, including rulemaking and any procurement or vendor contracting.
- Pharmacies, PBMs, and vendors could be affected depending on how DPH designs participation and administration (contracts, reimbursement, network rules).
- Fiscal impacts are unclear from the text because funding and administrative costs are not specified.

Implementation timeline
- Effective September 1, 2025; DPH must initiate the program “as soon as reasonably practicable” after that date and promulgate implementing rules.

Bottom line
- HB 3133 creates statutory authority and a directive for DPH to establish a state prescription drug discount card program, but leaves essential program details (funding, operations, participant eligibility, discounts) to subsequent administrative rulemaking and program design.