Holmes’ law secures insurance coverage for menopause relief treatment starting Jan. 1

• Health Insurance Coverage
• HB5295
• Menopause Treatment

SPRINGFIELD – To ensure equitable access to treatment, State Senator Linda Holmes led a new law requiring insurance to cover treatments and therapies for menopause symptoms – whether the onset was natural or surgical – effective Jan. 1, 2026.

“Hormonal changes can bring on complications that affect our overall health and well-being; genetics, lifestyle and underlying conditions put,” said Holmes (D-Aurora). “Working with their doctor to find beneficial menopause therapies for themselves – hormone supplements or other approaches - patients should expect insurance coverage regardless of the onset reason. They will now be covered equally.”

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Holmes’ law ensures equitable mental health care coverage to support healing after miscarriage or stillbirth

• Health Insurance Coverage
• Miscarriage or Stillbirth

SPRINGFIELD –Expectant parents may begin to plan and prepare for their future when they learn they are pregnant. Sadly, some pregnancies end abruptly in stillbirth or miscarriage. The unimaginable loss can bring long-lasting trauma; inconsistent insurance coverage for professional mental health care can make treatment unaffordable. Care is inaccessible, and the suffering magnifies. To assist Illinois families in this situation, State Senator Linda Holmes’ law requires insurers to cover care for mental and emotional recovery for those suffering a miscarriage or stillbirth takes effect Jan. 1.

“Those who have faced the loss of an infant may cope with the trauma for the rest of their lives; it is often an overpowering shock,” said Holmes (D-Aurora). “This unaddressed pain can trigger isolation, anxiety, stress and depression, and may lead to substance abuse.”

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Holmes legislation permitting terminally ill adults to consider end-of-life options signed into law

• SB1950
• End-of-Life Options for Terminally Ill Patients Act

SPRINGFIELD – Illinois has joined 11 other states and Washington, D.C. in increasing access to more compassionate end-of-life options for terminally ill adults, thanks to a new law spearheaded by State Senator Linda Holmes.

“This new law will give Illinoisans access to a full range of end-of-life options,” said Holmes (D-Aurora). “If someone is facing a terminal illness, they deserve the autonomy and dignity of being able to make their own decisions on end-of-life care.”

Senate Bill 1950 – known as the End-of-Life Options for Terminally Ill Patients Act – allows a qualified patient with a terminal disease to request a physician to prescribe aid-in-dying medication, allowing the patient to end their own life in a peaceful manner.

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Senator Holmes celebrates construction kickoff for new Aurora University Learning Commons

• DCEO
• Aurora University
• Learning Commons
• Capital Funding

AURORA – Senator Linda Holmes joined a ceremony on November 21 at the future site of the new Learning Commons facility on the Aurora University campus. She joined Aurora University President Susana Rivera-Mills and other officials to sign their names on a beam that will be part of the structure as it is built.

“The new building will be a central hub of academic life on campus, bringing together the resources students use most to a single convenient, welcoming space,” said Holmes, D-Aurora. “This environmentally friendly project will create a high-tech hub on campus that will increase opportunities for students to gather, strengthen their skills and build relationships within their community.”

Holmes obtained $750,000 in capital funding for the project in the state’s fiscal year 2025 budget, and the Learning Commons will transform the way Aurora University students learn, collaborate and connect. Holmes said the facility is expected to open in fall 2026, and it has created 50,000-man hours of union construction work.

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