Bill Text: IL HB5809 | 2025-2026 | 104th General Assembly | Introduced

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Bill Title: Creates the Student Cardiac Safety Act. Provides that beginning with the 2027-2028 school year, a qualified health care professional who performs a physical examination on a student athlete in any of grades kindergarten through 12 shall include a cardiovascular prescreening as part of the examination. Sets forth requirements for the prescreening. Requires a student athlete with a positive finding to be referred to a cardiologist for further evaluation and testing. Requires the Department of Public Health to compile and publish on its website an annual report concerning the prescreenings. Provides that beginning with the 2028-2029 school year, a qualified health care provider shall incorporate a cardiovascular prescreening into the annual well-child visit of each patient who is a student in any of grades kindergarten through 12. Requires the distribution of educational materials that provide information about diseases that can cause sudden cardiac arrest and heart failure. Requires the Department to implement policies, programs, training, and continuing education that increase a health care professional's knowledge of cardiovascular prescreening guidelines. Requires rulemaking.

Sponsorship: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2026-08-26 - Filed with the Clerk by Rep. Lindsey LaPointe [HB5809 Detail]

Download: Illinois-2025-HB5809-Introduced.html

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104TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY State of Illinois 2025 and 2026HB5809 Introduced , by Rep. Lindsey LaPointe SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:
New Act
Creates the Student Cardiac Safety Act. Provides that beginning with the 2027-2028 school year, a qualified health care professional who performs a physical examination on a student athlete in any of grades kindergarten through 12 shall include a cardiovascular prescreening as part of the examination. Sets forth requirements for the prescreening. Requires a student athlete with a positive finding to be referred to a cardiologist for further evaluation and testing. Requires the Department of Public Health to compile and publish on its website an annual report concerning the prescreenings. Provides that beginning with the 2028-2029 school year, a qualified health care provider shall incorporate a cardiovascular prescreening into the annual well-child visit of each patient who is a student in any of grades kindergarten through 12. Requires the distribution of educational materials that provide information about diseases that can cause sudden cardiac arrest and heart failure. Requires the Department to implement policies, programs, training, and continuing education that increase a health care professional's knowledge of cardiovascular prescreening guidelines. Requires rulemaking.
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STATE MANDATES ACT MAY REQUIRE REIMBURSEMENTMAY APPLY
A BILL FOR
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AN ACT concerning education.
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
represented in the General Assembly:
Section 1. Short title. This Act may be cited as the
Student Cardiac Safety Act.
Section 5. Cardiovascular prescreening for student
athletes.
(a) Beginning with the 2027-2028 school year, a qualified
health care professional who performs a physical examination
on a student athlete in any of grades kindergarten through 12
shall include a cardiovascular prescreening as part of the
examination that follows nationally recognized, evidence-based
guidelines recommended by organizations focused on
cardiovascular care in pediatric populations. The elements of
the prescreening shall include targeted personal history and
family history data and a focused physical examination to
detect cardiovascular disease as follows:
(1) Personal history data shall include any prior
elevated systemic blood pressure, unexplained exertional
chest pain or syncope, palpitations, or decreased exercise
tolerance.
(2) Family history data shall include known cardiac
conditions, such as cardiomyopathy, arrhythmia syndromes,

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atrial fibrillation, implanted medical devices, cardiac
medication, premature sudden cardiac death, unexplained
drowning, or seizures.
(3) The physical examination shall include the
detection of a pathologic heart murmur, irregular rhythm,
abnormal pulses, or other findings suggestive of
structural or electrical heart disease.
(b) A student athlete with any positive findings from the
prescreening shall be referred to a cardiologist for further
evaluation and testing.
(c) The prescreening shall take place no earlier than 3
months prior to the start of the athletic season in which the
student participates.
(d) The Department of Public Health shall compile and
publish on its website an annual report containing the total
number of prescreenings that were completed for a given school
year and the number of referrals that were made to cardiology.
The report shall analyze the outcomes of this Act and be made
publicly available. The Department of Public Health shall
record the total number of prescreenings, including how many
health care professionals adopted and used the prescreenings,
the proportion of positive findings from the prescreenings,
how many positive findings were followed up on and, if
possible, data regarding the follow-ups, including the false
positive rate, and the performance of additional diagnostic
studies.

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Section 10. Cardiovascular prescreening for all students.
Beginning with the 2028-2029 school year, a qualified health
care professional shall incorporate a cardiovascular
prescreening into the annual well-child visit of each patient
who is a student in any of grades kindergarten through 12. The
prescreening shall follow nationally recognized,
evidence-based guidelines recommended by organizations focused
on cardiovascular care in pediatric populations. The elements
of the prescreening shall include targeted personal history
and family history data and a focused physical examination to
detect cardiovascular disease as follows:
(1) Personal history data shall include any prior
elevated systemic blood pressure, unexplained exertional
chest pain or syncope, palpitations, or decreased exercise
tolerance.
(2) Family history data shall include known cardiac
conditions, such as cardiomyopathy, arrhythmia syndromes,
atrial fibrillation, implanted medical devices, cardiac
medication, premature sudden cardiac death, unexplained
drowning, or seizures.
(3) The physical examination shall include the
detection of a pathologic heart murmur, irregular rhythm,
abnormal pulses, or other findings suggestive of
structural or electrical heart disease.

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Section 15. Educational material distribution.
(a) The State Board of Education, in collaboration with
the Department of Public Health, shall distribute, to children
and their families and school districts, educational materials
that provide information about diseases that can cause sudden
cardiac arrest and heart failure. The materials shall follow
evidence-based guidelines.
(b) Beginning with the 2027-2028 school year, each school
district shall annually distribute the educational materials
to the parents or guardians of students participating in
school athletics as part of the athletic permission form.
Section 20. Professional education. The Department of
Public Health shall implement policies, programs, training,
and continuing education that increase a health care
professional's knowledge of cardiovascular prescreening
guidelines, including:
(1) how to complete a cardiovascular risk assessment,
including collecting family history data and personal
reports of symptoms;
(2) how to identify risk factors for cardiac arrest
and heart failure through a physical examination; and
(3) referral procedures for positive findings.
Section 90. Rules.
(a) The Department of Public Health, in consultation with

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the State Board of Education, shall adopt rules to effectuate
the purposes of this Act, other than Section 20.
(b) The State Board of Education, in consultation with the
Department of Public Health, shall adopt rules to effectuate
the purposes of Section 20.
(c) Rules adopted under this Section shall follow
nationally recognized, evidence-based guidelines recommended
by organizations focused on cardiovascular care in pediatric
populations.