(740 ILCS 92/5)
Sec. 5. Patient and client procurement.
(a) Except as otherwise permitted or authorized by law, it is unlawful to knowingly offer or pay any remuneration directly or indirectly, in cash or in kind, to induce any person to procure clients or patients to obtain services or benefits under a contract of insurance or that will be the basis for a claim against an insured person or the person's insurer. Nothing in this Act shall be construed to affect any contracts or arrangements between or among insuring entities including health maintenance organizations, health care professionals, or health care facilities which are hereby excluded.
(b) A person who violates any provision of this Act, Section 17-8.5 or Section 17-10.5 of the Criminal Code of 1961 or the Criminal Code of 2012, or Article 46 of the Criminal Code of 1961 shall be subject, in addition to any other penalties that may be prescribed by law, to a civil penalty of not less than $5,000 nor more than $10,000, plus an assessment of not more than 3 times the amount of each claim for compensation under a contract of insurance. The court shall have the power to grant other equitable relief, including temporary injunctive relief, as is necessary to prevent the transfer, concealment, or dissipation of illegal proceeds, or to protect the public. The penalty prescribed in this subsection shall be assessed for each fraudulent claim upon a person in which the defendant participated.
(c) The penalties set forth in subsection (b) are intended to be remedial rather than punitive, and shall not preclude, nor be precluded by, a criminal prosecution for the same conduct. If the court finds, after considering the goals of disgorging unlawful profit, restitution, compensating the State for the costs of investigation and prosecution, and alleviating the social costs of increased insurance rates due to fraud, that such a penalty would be punitive and would preclude, or be precluded by, a criminal prosecution, the court shall reduce that penalty appropriately.
(Source: P.A. 97-1150, eff. 1-25-13.)
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Last modified: February 18, 2015