2026 Illinois Legislative Session Review

Every year, Howard Brown Health advocates for state legislation to advance and protect access to care, public health funding and additional policies important to LGBTQ+ people and our allies. We thank members of the Illinois General Assembly who passed several important laws that Howard Brown helped to shape, in part due to our grassroots advocacy partners, including you. A high-level update on new laws as well as legislative developments on priority legislation is below:

Community Health Center Funding

The Illinois Patient Access to 340B Pharmacy Protection Act (HB2371 SFA 2) prohibits pharmaceutical manufacturers from denying, prohibiting, conditioning, or otherwise interfering with the acquisition of 340B drugs by covered entities like Howard Brown and other community health centers and safety net providers across the state. After years of hard work by patients, advocates, and community members, this bill was passed by the Illinois General Assembly! This bill will help to safeguard our ability to provide affordable medication to our patients and generate critical 340B savings, which enable us to provide access to affordable, affirming, and lifesaving care for the populations that we serve. We would like to thank Rep. Anna Moeller, Sen. David Koehler, and our partners at the Illinois Primary Health Care Association (IPHCA) for their leadership and advocacy on this critical bill.

Access to Affirming Healthcare

There were two bills that passed that will help to protect access to gender-affirming care in Illinois amidst threats to patient privacy and care.

• HB 4834 will exempt testosterone from being monitored by the Illinois Prescription Monitoring Program (PMP), an electronic database that collects, tracks, and stores dispensing data on Schedule II-V controlled substances in the state of Illinois. Because testosterone is a Schedule III controlled substance, data on the dispensing of testosterone was tracked in the state’s PMP, which led to privacy concerns. HB 4834 will require the PMP to remove all prior information on the prescribing of testosterone from their records and exempt testosterone data from being collected going forward. We would like to thank Representative Kelly Cassidy, Senator Adriane Johnson, and Equality Illinois for their dedicated leadership.

• HB 5492 amends the Illinois Insurance Code to require coverage for up to a 6-month supply of prescription hormone therapy, as well as the necessary supplies for self-administration. This will help to increase access to necessary hormone therapies for a variety of health conditions and improve continuity of care. This bill would not have passed without the steadfast advocacy of Rep. Katie Stuart, Sen. Lakesia Collins, and our partners at Equality Illinois and Planned Parenthood Illinois.

HIV Treatment and Services

Illinois passed a FY27 budget bill (HB 111) that increases funding for the HIV Lump Sum by $1 million. The HIV Lump Sum is a dedicated line-item in the Illinois budget that funds HIV testing, treatment, and care initiatives. It also helps to fund the state’s AIDS Drug Assistance Program (ADAP), which is especially important considering upcoming changes to Medicaid. We would like to thank AIDS Foundation of Chicago and Sen. Mike Simmons for their tireless work on these initiatives.

HB 2584 would ban prior authorization in health insurance plans and Medicaid for HIV treatment and prevention medications, including PrEP, PEP, and HIV treatment medications. Prior authorizations are one of the most persistent barriers to care that we observe for our patients. Advocates were able to gather support to get this bill passed in the House, but it ultimately did not progress in the Senate this year. We will continue to advocate to remove prior authorization burden to improve medication access. We want to thank Rep. Kelly Cassidy, Sen. Laura Fine, and AFC for their tireless work on this bill.

LGBTQ+ Rights

HB 4359/SB 2805 would establish the Sexual Orientation, Gender Identity, and Gender Expression in Long-Term Care Bill of Rights. This would protect LGBTQ+ elders and older adults living with HIV from discrimination based on sexual orientation, gender identity, and HIV status in long-term care facilities and home-based caretaking. While both the House and Senate bills passed out of their respective committees, the bills ultimately did not advance further this year. We would like to thank Sen. Celina Villanueva, Rep. Nicolle Grasse, AFC, and Pride Action Tank for all their advocacy on these bills.

Next Steps

Bills that were passed by the General Assembly will now be sent to the Governor to sign into law. We will continue to advocate for measures that did not pass, as well as new policy priorities that emerge for our community. For ongoing updates, you can visit our Advocacy page.