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Illinois Health Insurance Changes
Employer health insurance is the most common type of health insurance in Illinois, covering 59% of the population. Medicaid covers 11% of the population and Medicare covers 12%. Fourteen percent of the people in Illinois are uninsured.
The Illinois Comprehensive Health Insurance Plan offers high risk pool insurance for individuals whose medical conditions prevent them from getting affordable health insurance. There are limits on the insurance premiums that can be charged to people who participate in this program.
Minors, pregnant women, and disabled persons who meet strict income guidelines may qualify for Illinois’s Medicaid program.
Uninsured minors who do not meet the stringent income guidelines for Medicaid may qualify for KidCare, Illinois’s State Children’s Health Insurance Program. In addition to KidCare, Illinois sponsors a program called AllKids for uninsured children in households with slightly higher incomes. Uninsured parents of minor children who do not qualify for Medicaid may be able to get insurance through FamilyCare. In 2008, Governor Rod Blagojevich introduced a plan to expand Family Care, but it was voted down by the Joint Committee on Administrative Rules.
How Does Illinois Score on Health Care?
Illinois scores well in home health care, with patients reporting decreased pain and a better ability to manage their own medication regimens. Nursing home patients, too, fared well in Illinois. Compared to other states, nursing home residents were less likely to need increased help with their activities of daily living and were less likely to develop bladder or bowel incontinence.
An area in Illinois’s healthcare system that has potential for improvement and growth, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, is cardiac care. Compared to other states, patients who had suffered heart attacks in Illinois were less likely to be prescribed appropriate medications on discharge from the hospital. Illinois also has a relatively low number of people who received pneumonia vaccinations.
