Illinois Makes Its Health Care Deal Notice Permanent and Reaches PE Owners January 1

Public Act 104-0782 removes the sunset on Illinois's 30-day Attorney General notice for health care mergers and extends it to anyone who owns or controls the parties, including private equity.

Illinois Public Act 104-0782 (HB 5000), approved August 7, 2026, takes effect January 1, 2027. It amends 740 ILCS 10/7.2a, the section requiring parties to a health care merger, acquisition or contracting affiliation to notify the Attorney General at least 30 days before closing. That section was scheduled to be repealed on January 1, 2027. The Act strikes the repeal, so the notice requirement becomes permanent.

The turn: the buyer is now in scope

The 30-day notice and the penalty of up to $500 a day already applied to health care facilities and provider organizations. What's new is who else counts. A transaction is now covered "even if the parties to the transaction are not themselves a health care facility or provider organization but own or control, directly or indirectly," one of them, "including if parties to the covered transaction are private equity companies." Penalties now attach to "any party to a covered transaction."

The Act defines a private equity company by its ownership of an Illinois health care entity, or of an out-of-state one with $10 million or more a year in revenue from Illinois patients.

Where ABA fits

The section reaches a "provider organization": one that "represents 20 or more health care providers in contracting with health carriers or third-party administrators." A "health care provider" is "an individual or entity duly licensed or legally authorized to provide health care services." ABA isn't named. It's our inference that an Illinois ABA group contracting with insurers on behalf of 20 or more licensed behavior analysts fits that definition.

What the notice involves

  • Names and addresses of the parties, every location where they provide services, a description of the deal, and its expected effective date.
  • The Attorney General can request more information within 30 days of notice. If it does, the deal can't proceed until 30 days after the parties substantially comply.
  • Parties get 10 days to cure before a penalty action, but the right to cure ends at closing.

The limits

The Attorney General hasn't issued guidance on how providers are counted. Whether unlicensed staff count toward 20 isn't addressed beyond the definition above. Illinois ABA owners also face the separate January 15, 2027 ownership-licensure deadline under PA 104-0618.

What you must know or do

  • Owners in a sale or recapitalization that closes in 2027: count the licensed providers your group contracts for with insurers. At 20 or more, or if the buyer is private equity, build an Attorney General notice into the timeline at least 30 days before closing, plus 30 more if the AG asks for information.
  • Owners already partnered with private equity: ask your sponsor's counsel whether add-on acquisitions in Illinois after January 1 will be filed under §7.2a.