Illinois is the only state in the country that offers comprehensive and affordable health insurance to all children. The All Kids program covers 1.4 million children, but as many as "376,000 Illinois kids still are uncovered by any health insurance," according to the Sun-Times. That's why the newspaper and Resurrection Health Care are holding a registration drive this Saturday, June 21. The goal is to sign up 1,000 additional children in one day.
While organizers had initially hoped for 300 volunteers to man registration stations throughout Chicagoland, over 400 people have already signed up. As the Sun-Times points out, registering children with All Kids not only protects Illinois' most vulnerable, it saves everyone else money too:
You can find a list of registration locations here. Take a look if you or anyone you know might benefit from this program, or call (877) RES-INFO to find a nearby enrollment center.Giving kids who would normally go straight to the emergency room a "medical home" helps to lower health care costs for everyone, said Barry Maram, director of the Illinois Healthcare and Family Services Department.
"Each year, for the people who do have insurance, $1,059 is added to the cost of our policies because of the uninsured," Maram said, citing a 2005 report from Families USA.
Anonymous on Thu, 06/19/2008 - 17:46
Chicago isn't a state (yet)!
This doesn't seem like the time to be getting more kids on the program, since it was recently reported that HFS is currently in bad shape:
http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/107706.php
Josh Kalven on Thu, 06/19/2008 - 18:26
Good point! Fixed that typo.
And you've got a point about the state of HFS, thought I don't think it's bad enough to discourage folks from signing up for free coverage.
Anonymous on Fri, 06/20/2008 - 12:17
It's only free if you don't pay taxes :-)
Josh Kalven on Fri, 06/20/2008 - 12:37
Fair enough.
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