Morton, IL – The Governor signed a measure establishing mental health questions for licensing health professionals and made official the first law passed by State Representative Bill Hauter (R-Morton).
House Bill 3109 requires the Illinois State Medical board when determining mental capacities of applicants for a medical license to consider the latest recommendations of the Federation of State Medical Boards. The measure is intended to align Illinois law with the standards set by the Federation of State Medical Boards.
“This legislation passed without opposition in both the House and the Senate. It ensures Illinois is in line with ADA standards in the criteria used to determine the mental health of medical professionals for licensing,” Hauter said. “The new law will help make it easier to retain and recruit physicians and other medical professionals in Illinois by limiting intrusive and unnecessary mental health questions in the licensing process. It also ensures that we are not stigmatizing mental health issues so that all health care workers feel they can get the help they may need without fear of future problems with their licenses. As both a physician and a legislator, it was an honor to be the lead sponsor of this new law.”