The Arizona “Work Exposure to MRSA, Spinal Meningitis”, or TB Poster has been updated.

Delaware health insurers will be required to cover screenings for developmental delays in infants and toddlers. Covered children are entitled to receive the screenings at the ages of nine months, 18 months and 30 months, reflecting the positions of the American Academy of Pediatrics and the Delaware Early Childhood Council. The cost to policyholders for the new requirement is estimated to be only three cents per member per month (H. 199, L. 2009, effective November 25, 2009, at DE ¶8-4000).

The Delaware Workplace Fraud Act will take effect October 29, 2009. The law will prohibit employers from misclassifying workers as independent contractors. (Ch. 192 (H. 230), L. 2009, at DE ¶8-1000)

Former homosexuals are protected under the District of Columbia’s anti-discrimination law, the District of Columbia superior court held, in a suit filed by an advocacy group for ex-gays alleging the NEA violated the ordinance by denying the group public accommodations.

The court rejected an Office of Human Rights (OHR) determination that a characteristic must be immutable to be protected under the city’s Human Rights Act, concluding the ordinance protects against discrimination based on both immutable and mutable traits. “Indeed, the HRA lists numerous protected categories such as religion, personal appearance, familial status, and source of income, which are subject to change,” wrote the court. Yet the court did not need to address whether sexual preference is in fact a mutable characteristic; the ordinance “took such an analysis out of the equation” by providing a broad definition of sexual orientation to encompass both sexual “preference” and “practice.”

In protecting an individual’s sexual practices, the ordinance protects individuals who no longer practice homosexuality. Thus, the court reversed the OHR’s ruling that ex-gays are not protected under the statute. Nonetheless, the court held the NEA had the right to exclude the advocacy group from its conventions, and affirmed the OHR’s finding of no probable cause of discrimination (Parents and Friends of Ex-Gays, Inc v Gov’t Dist. Office of Human Rights, DC SuprCt, June 26, 2009, at ¶9-2500).

Employees who are victims of domestic or sexual violence and who work for an employer that employs at least 15 but not more than 49 employees are entitled to a total of eight workweeks of unpaid leave during any 12-month period to address domestic or sexual violence issues. Under prior law, only employers that employed 50 or more employees were required to provide such leave.

Exception may be made if the employer can demonstrate that the accommodation would impose an undue hardship on the operation of the employer. A reasonable accommodation must be made in a timely fashion. Any exigent circumstances or danger facing the employee or his or her family or household member shall be considered in determining whether the accommodation is reasonable. In addition, the definition of “family or household member” has been extended to include a person related by blood or by present or prior marriage, or a person who shares a relationship through a son or daughter jointly residing in the same household.

(P.A. 96-635 (S. 1770), L. 2009, effective August 24, 2009, at IL ¶14-7000)

Group or individual accident and health insurance policies and managed care plans that provide coverage for hospital and medical treatment on an expense-incurred basis may offer reasonably designed wellness programs, under a new law in Illinois.

The program may provide rewards, contributions, premium reductions or reduced medical, prescription drug or equipment copayments, coinsurance or deductibles (or a combination of these incentives) for participation in any health behavior wellness, maintenance or improvement program approved or offered by the insurer or managed care plan. Insureds or enrollees may be required to provide evidence of participation in the wellness program, and individuals who are unable to participate due to an adverse health factor may not be penalized based on adverse health status.

(P.A. 639 (S. 1877), L. 2009, effective January 1, 2010, at IL ¶14-4000)

Group accident or health insurance policies and HMOs that cover prescription drugs generally may not exclude coverage of an FDA-approved drug used in cancer treatment because it has not been approved by the FDA for the specific type of cancer for which it is prescribed. The drug, however, must meet certain standards, which were recently revised.

(P.A. 457 (H. 2275), L. 2009, effective August 14, 2009, at IL ¶14-4000)

When a physician includes a “may not substitute” order on a prescription, health insurance policies and health care service plans that cover immunosuppressant drugs may not require or cause pharmacists to interchange another immunosuppressant drug or formulation without notification and documented consent of the prescribing physician and patient.

For purposes of the law, “immunosuppressant drugs” include drugs used clinically to prevent the rejection of transplanted organs and tissues, but do not include those used for treatment of autoimmune diseases. Medications issued for inpatient care in a licensed hospital are also excluded.

(P.A. 766 (H. 152), L. 2009, effective June 1, 2010, at IL ¶14-4000)

The following posters have been added to the summary: Employee Classification Act of 2008 poster; Day and Temporary Labor Services Act posters; and Smoke Free Illinois Act posters.

(IL ¶14-9900)

llinois has amended its Unemployment Insurance Act with respect to the dependent child allowance rate and as follows.

The provisions of the law pertaining to voluntary leaving have been amended. Now, an individual will not be disqualified from receiving benefits for leaving work voluntarily if he or she is deemed physically unable to perform his or her work by a licensed physician, or because the individual’s assistance is necessary for the purpose of caring for his or her spouse, child, or parent who is in poor physical or mental health.

In addition, an individual will not be disqualified from receiving benefits if he or she left work due to verified domestic violence where the violence reasonably caused the individual to believe that continued employment would jeopardize his or her safety or that of a family member. Nor will an individual be denied benefits for voluntarily leaving work due to a change in location of employment of the individual’s spouse from which it is impractical for the individual to commute.

(IL ¶14-1700)