Prairie State Wire

The prior authorization system for prescription drugs under the Department of Healthcare and Family Services (HFS) is now operational after being offline since February 21, 2024. This outage was caused by a cybersecurity incident affecting Change Healthcare.

As of April 29, 2025, the standard prior authorization (PA) requirements are back in place. These apply to non-preferred medications, preferred medications requiring prior authorization as indicated on the Preferred Drug List (PDL), and practitioner-administered drugs marked with an ‘N’ on the Practitioner Fee Schedule.

Patients who were approved for medications that usually require PA during the outage may qualify for a 90-day transition period. This allows time to consult healthcare professionals about their medication needs.

Prior authorization requests submitted between February 21, 2024, and April 28, 2025, must be resubmitted if there is a continued need for those medications. For authorizations with expiration dates during the outage, extensions will be provided as outlined in an accompanying chart.

Non-covered drugs will not receive approval. Prescribers can submit requests by calling 800-252-8942 or faxing to 217-524-7264.