CHICAGO – Continuing to prioritize impactful mental and behavioral health legislation in the new year, state Rep. Lindsey LaPointe, D-Chicago, is highlighting a series of newly enacted mental healthcare laws, including no-cost and no diagnosis mental health and wellness visits to be covered by commercial insurance.
“Our mental health system today — including insurance coverage — fails to focus on prevention and early treatment. Our kids and adults wait until they are experiencing overwhelming mental health symptoms before they seek, or are forced to seek, help,” said LaPointe. “We are finally changing that paradigm, starting with enacting smart legislation that treats mental health care as what it is — healthcare.”
LaPointe and Senator Fine led House Bill 2847 in 2023 to address the nation’s long-standing mental health crisis and to characterize mental health in alignment with physical health. The new law requires most commercial insurance plans issued after Jan. 1, 2025, to cover one annual mental health and wellness visit to a mental health care professional or primary care physician, similar to an annual physical, with no diagnosis required.
“By prioritizing prevention, we’re taking a big step toward a reality where accessing mental health support is as routine and stigma-free as visiting your family doctor,” said LaPointe.
Focusing on inclusive legislation that ensures those who need it most have access to care, LaPointe supported newly effective measures that expand mental health resources for our first responders, including House Bill 4460 and Senate Bill 3538. These bills, respectively, require insurance to cover couples therapy services for first responders and their spouses or partners and remove cost-sharing or copays for first responder mental health visits.
“This trio of new laws, all effective January 1st, removes barriers to taking that first step to reach out for help — for first responders, our neighbors, and us,” said LaPointe. “Mental healthcare is healthcare, and everyone should be able to seamlessly use their insurance for care.”
For more information, please contact Info@RepLaPointe.com or 773-647-1174.
Rep. Lindsey LaPointe
(D-Chicago)
19th District
Springfield Office:
275-S Stratton Office Building
Springfield, IL 62706
(217) 782-8400
(217) 557-1934 FAX
District Office:
District Office:
4349 N Milwaukee Ave
Suite 2
Chicago, IL 60641
(773) 647-1174