Illinois Lawmakers Reject Order That Would Have Expanded Health Coverage For Adults

Main Category: Health Insurance / Medical Insurance
Article Date: 16 Nov 2007 - 7:00 PDT

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An Illinois legislative rules-making committee on Tuesday voted 9-2 to reject an order issued last week by Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich (D) that would have allowed 147,000 parents and caretakers to purchase discounted health insurance through the state's FamilyCare program, the Chicago Tribune reports (Meitrodt/Mendell, Chicago Tribune, 11/13).

The expansion is part of a larger proposal by Blagojevich that was estimated to cost $2.1 billion annually and would have provided coverage for more than 1.4 million residents. The proposal stalled in the state Senate last spring. Abby Ottenhoff, spokesperson for Blagojevich, said the expansion would cost about $225 million annually, but the administration did not identify a funding source for the expansion. Under the order, a family of four with an annual income up to 400% of the federal poverty level would have qualified for FamilyCare. Families would have paid at least $360 per month for coverage of physician visits, hospital services, prescription drugs, medical equipment and some dental care.

The Blagojevich administration filed the order because it said those residents "lack access to affordable health insurance," which constituted a crisis in the state. In addition, according to administration aides, congressional action to eliminate SCHIP coverage for adults has created a crisis for about 20,000 adults enrolled in SCHIP whose incomes are too high to qualify for Medicaid (Meitrodt, Chicago Tribune, 11/13).

The Blagojevich administration has requested a permanent rule change for the rejected expansion, and the governor has said he would expand two other state-sponsored insurance programs. Those plans also would require approval from the committee.

Lawmakers at Tuesday's committee hearing questioned how the state would fund the expansion, noting that there is a backlog of unpaid bills to providers. In addition, lawmakers questioned whether there were enough physicians in the state to provide care for thousands of new beneficiaries (Meitrodt/Mendell, Chicago Tribune, 11/13).

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