Illinois Governor Proposes Plan to Cover All Uninsured Residents

Governor Rod. R. Blagojevich today announced “Illinois Covered,” his historic and comprehensive plan to give every Illinoisan access to affordable and quality health coverage. While the Governor’s “All Kids” plan, which took effect last year, extended coverage to all children in the state, approximately 1.4 million adults in Illinois are currently uninsured. A majority, roughly 75 percent, are from families with moderate incomes or higher. The Governor’s plan will provide affordable coverage to the uninsured and will also help many middle-income families and small businesses that are currently enrolled in health insurance plans save thousands a year on healthcare costs. The plan will also reform the existing healthcare system to improve quality and require more accountability.

The Governor unveiled his plan at Fourth Presbyterian Church in Chicago where parishioners and healthcare advocates gathered with him to “Sound the Alarm” for the uninsured. More than 100 congregations across the state “sounded the alarm” with horns, bells or Shofars to call attention to the plight of the 1.4 million uninsured people in Illinois, and to urge state legislators to work with the Governor to implement a comprehensive healthcare plan in Illinois.

“Everyone should be able to see a doctor or deal with a medical emergency without worrying about putting their family in financial peril. We made major strides last year when we won approval for the All Kids plan so that every child in Illinois can get coverage. But we can’t stop there. There are still almost a million-and-a-half adults here in Illinois who don’t have health insurance. They’re workers; they’re parents; they’re taxpayers — they’re doing everything they should be doing to get ahead and care for their families, but they still don’t have real access to health coverage. Maybe they have diabetes or a heart condition, and insurance companies won’t take on the risk. Maybe they’re self-employed or work for a small business that can’t afford to offer employee coverage,” said Gov. Blagojevich.

“But just because people don’t have health coverage doesn’t mean they don’t get sick. They do – and they usually don’t seek medical care until they’re very sick, and the necessary treatment is very expensive. Then we all pick up the cost. It’s added on to our insurance premiums and drives up other healthcare costs. It leads to personal bankruptcy. It results in loss of productivity for employers. The bottom line is that it is both morally right and economically advantageous to make sure every person can get health coverage,” the Governor added.

The cost of healthcare is rising dramatically nationwide, leaving more and more people uninsured, and forcing businesses to drop or significantly cut back coverage. As a result of faster-than-inflation rate increases, the number of uninsured nationally has increased by 6 million since 2000. As more people become uninsured, the cost of providing health services to them puts significant pressure on families, the healthcare system and the state’s economy.

Businesses are significantly impacted by skyrocketing healthcare costs. Over the past five years, health insurance premiums for businesses have increased nearly five times faster than inflation and four times faster than wage growth. While surveys show that employees consider health insurance to be the most important benefit and a leading reason to stay with an employer, the cost of health insurance premiums for employers increased nearly 87 percent between 2000 and 2006. In one startling example, General Motors now spends more money on a per-car basis on health insurance than it does on steel.

States across the country, including Pennsylvania, Massachusetts and California are moving forward with, or studying, plans to insure all of their residents. Gov. Blagojevich designed “Illinois Covered” to address the specific and varying needs of Illinois. His plan includes a range of options – from access to new affordable insurance products, to rebates on private insurance for those who currently have health insurance, to direct state assistance – to make sure every Illinoisan has access to health coverage.