New Illinois law requires insurance companies to pay for EpiPens for kids

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Gov. J.B. Pritzker signed a new law Tuesday requiring insurance companies to cover the cost of EpiPen injectors for children with severe allergies.

The law will go into effect Jan. 1, 2020.

Pritzker's office says EpiPens can cost a family almost $700 if they have no insurance.

“With steady increases in food allergies and other serious allergic conditions, families are relying on EpiPens more than ever before,” Sen. Julie Morrison (D-Deerfield) said in a statement. “We should be doing everything we can to expand access to affordable lifesaving drugs and medicines. No child with a serious allergy should be without an epinephrine injector because they cannot afford one.”

Pritzker also signed a bill Tuesday that would require insurance companies to cover office visits, testing and treatment for tick-borne diseases such as Lyme disease.