Kane County Reporter

Assistant Minority Leader Rep. Keith Wheeler (R-Oswego) is celebrating the House passage of legislation he sponsored that would obligate health insurance plans to offer coverage for hormone therapy treatment for women who have undergone a hysterectomy.

“My women's health bill has passed unanimously out of the House of Representatives,” Wheeler posted on Facebook after the 108-0 vote. “My bill would require health insurance plans to offer coverage for hormone therapy treatment for women who have undergone a hysterectomy.”

House Bill 5254 now advances to the state Senate for consideration, where it is being sponsored on a bipartisan level.

“Thank you Representative Barbara Hernandez for your support as Chief Co-Sponsor and State Senator Linda Holmes for agreeing to sponsor this bill over in the Senate,” Wheeler posted. “Together we will get our bill onto the Governor's desk to be signed into law this year.”

Wheeler said his motivation for seeing the measure turned into law is at least partly based on personal experience.

“Women that I know in my own life and many others across Illinois have made the decision to protect their health by choosing to undergo a hysterectomy, from which they face the often difficult physical challenges of adjusting to a new normal,” he said in a post to his website. “By passing this bill into law, we will ensure that coverage for hormone therapy will be offered to patients who have undergone a hysterectomy to help them start the next chapter of their lives with the full range of health care options they need and deserve.”

According to SidecarHealth.com, the average cash price for hysterectomy care in Illinois is $6,978 and almost double that at an outpatient hospital at $13,445.