Last month, the Illinois General Assembly ended the 2025 legislative session. For over 25 years, EverThrive Illinois has advocated to advance our shared priorities of eliminating racial and gender disparities in healthcare, promoting bodily autonomy, and creating a health care system that is deserving of trust from those most affected by injustices.
EverThrive Illinois applauds the Illinois General Assembly for passing the following bills, which will improve the health and well-being of Illinois families.
Assistance for Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) Families
HB2464, Insurance-Health/Neonatal Cost Share, protects NICU families from out-of-network charges for NICU care from any hospital in Illinois.
HB2978, Neonatal Intensive Care Leave, provides additional time off, unpaid, for families with infants in the NICU. This bill will provide additional job security after families have used all their family medical leave.
Increased Access to Contraceptive and Medication Abortion Services at Public Institutions of Higher Education
HB3709, Higher Ed-Student Health Services, requires Illinois public institutions of higher education to provide health care professionals who can prescribe contraceptives and medication abortion pills, pharmacies to dispense these medications, and access to obstetric/gynecological services for any complications.
Workplace Protections for Lactating People
SB212, Nursing Mothers in the Workplace, provides protected paid time for employees who need to express breast milk during work hours.
Hospital Policies for Doulas
SB2437, Medicaid-Maternal Health Doulas, requires hospitals and birthing centers to adopt and maintain policies to allow Medicaid-certified doulas to accompany patients before, during, and after childbirth as part of a patient’s care team, not as a visitor.
2026 Illinois Budget
The Illinois General Assembly approved the Fiscal Year 2026 state budget which included many provisions for healthcare, services, and resources for pregnant people, infants, and families:
- $8 million for Birth Equity Initiatives.
- $20 million for reproductive health initiatives including a navigator to direct patients to care.
- $27.9 million for the Maternal and Child Home Visiting Program.
- $175 million increase for the Child Care Assistance Program (CCAP) to support 150,000 children.
- $100 million for Child Tax Credit for eligible low-income families.
- $118 million for Safety-Net Hospitals to improve health equity, access to quality care, and reduce disparities.
- $40 million for Federally Qualified Health Centers.
- $1 million to support the Diaper Distribution pilot program.
While we celebrate these successes, there is more to do. In this last legislative session, we supported efforts to protect against federal cuts to Medicaid services and funding, to address maternity care and reproductive health deserts, and to expand paid family leave.
EverThrive Illinois will join with our partners to continue to build public and legislative support for these priorities and others. But we all have a part to play in making these policy priorities into laws—sign up for our email list today so that you can receive action alerts and other updates on when you can help us advance our shared priorities!