(St@teside Published March 21,, 2007)

Illinois:

Governor Rod Blagojevich (D) continues to push forward a new plan to address the uninsured in his state. Following the success of his All Kids initiative, in March 2007 he announced his Illinois Covered plan. Under the plan, residents would fall into three categories:

• Assist: This program would be available for childless adults that are ineligible for the state's Medicaid program, do not have access to employer-sponsored insurance, and have incomes below the federal poverty level. The state will pay premiums for those individuals who have employer-sponsored coverage.
• Choice: The state will require all managed care plans to offer a new affordable and comprehensive insurance product to individuals and small businesses. By reinsuring the product (similar to the mechanism used by HealthyNY), the state intends to make premiums more affordable. Premiums paid by the consumer will be based on income levels.  Those eligible for the Choice plan include:
• Individuals without access to employer-sponsored insurance; and
• Small businesses (= 25 employees) that contribute at l east the minimum required percentage of the premium.
• Rebate: The Covered Rebate program is essentially a premium assistance program subsidizing coverage and providing discounts to everyone who either purchases coverage through Illinois Covered Choice or who has access to an employer-sponsored plan (if the employer contributes at least 70 percent of the premium for employees). The Rebate program would also "cap" health insurance premiums for employees by having the state cover the difference between the cost of full premium and the sliding-scale employee contribution amounts that will be set based on income level.

FamilyCare Program: Additionally, the Governor intends to increase the eligibility level for parents in the existing FamilyCare program (SCHIP) from 185 percent of the federal poverty level (FPL) to 400 percent FPL. Eligible parents with access to employer-sponsored insurance could also take advantage of the new Rebate program.

Dependent Coverage: The proposal also allows dependents to have access to insurance on their parent's policy up until their 30th birthday.

Additional delivery system improvement and cost containment provisions are also included in the Governor's proposal including: the development of a statewide consensus plan to promote wellness and to manage chronic conditions; improved accountability, transparency, and better information to assist consumers in making better choices about their health care; and efforts to improve patient safety, promote electronic medical records, improve information about quality of care, and reduce administrative costs.