Every state has a portion of their Medicaid program that provides children who come from low-income families with health insurance coverage. In some states, this is part of the main Medicaid program. Other states will call it CHIP. In Illinois, the program is called All Kids.
Medicaid is a public, or government run, form of health insurance. It is designed to provide individuals and families who are low-income with health insurance coverage. In other words, it helps people who cannot afford to buy health insurance from a private company to have access to health care. Medicaid is funded by both the federal government and the government of an individual state.
In Illinois, the Department of Healthcare and Family Services administers the Medicaid program. The portion of the program that covers children in Illinois is called All Kids. Parents who want to have their children covered by All Kids need to start at the Illinois Healthcare Portal website.
The All Kids program made the news in April of 2012 when Illinois Governor Pat Quinn, and several lawmakers, decided to make a change to the All Kids program. As of July 1, 2012, families who had an income of 300% of the poverty level, or above, were no longer eligible to have their children covered by All Kids.
In short, this meant that lots of kids who needed cancer treatment were being dropped from the program. Perhaps they should change the name, since it no longer covers “All Kids”.
In order to be eligible for All Kids, a child must live in Illinois. The child must be age 18 or younger. The child must also meet the insurance requirements for All Kids. According to the state’s website:
“Children can qualify for All Kids Assist Share and Premium Level 1 even if they have had insurance within the past 12 months. To qualify for All Kids Premium Level 2, a child must have been uninsured for 12 months or have lost insurance because a job ended or the insurance was COBRA.”
There are annual income limits that must be met. Families that make too much cannot have their children covered by All Kids. While some children can be covered by All Kids for free, some families will have to pay premiums and co-payments for All Kids health insurance coverage. The amount of the co-pay and premium depends on the income of the family.
Children who have a pre-existing condition can be covered by All Kids (assuming that their family meets the rest of the eligibility requirements). The Illinois website says: “As part of national health care reform, no insurance company can exclude or delay new coverage for a child based on a pre-existing condition.”
Image by Lisa Dusseault on Flickr