Well guys, here's what I've found out so far about how the great State of Illinois will help the uninsured. It ain't pretty. This is only my second diary, and I hope I haven't completely screwed up the links (if I did I will do my best to fix them as best I can). Follow me after the fold.
It has not been easy to find out what Illinois is proposing for the high risk pool. I can't imagine how anyone without some computer savvy would get this information. After reading today's diary on Ohio's plan http://www.dailykos.com/... I thought I'd do the same for Illinois.
Here is the article from whence I started: http://www.pantagraph.com/... Here's a cheery tidbit:
Illinois expects to receive nearly $200 million from the federal government to start covering people with medical problems who've been uninsured for at least six months. The state estimates that 4,000 to 6,000 people will be covered in the new program. Many more are expected to apply for coverage.
"It's important to temper the expectations," McRaith said. "This is a transitional program with a finite set of dollars for the state of Illinois ... As a result we anticipate more applicants than the funds will allow us to enroll."
The number I read in a Chicago Sun-Times article from last week was 2.5 million people in Illinois with chronic illnesses.
And the piece de resistance for many Illinois uninsured:
Applicants for the new pool would have to have one of 31 listed medical conditions, which include leukemia, Parkinson's disease, AIDS, juvenile diabetes and chemical dependency.
People who've been rejected for health coverage for "unlisted" reasons may qualify, McRaith said, but he cautions that eligibility is likely to be tight because of limited federal funding.
Here's the list of illnesses that they will cover:
Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome Lupus Erythematosus Disseminate
(AIDS) or Aids Related Complex (ARC) Metastatic Cancer
Angina Pectoris Multiple or Disseminated Sclerosis
Arteriosclerosis Obliterans Muscular Atrophy or Dystrophy
Cerebrovascular Accident (Stroke) Myasthenia Gravis
Chemical Dependency Myotonia
Cirrhosis of the Liver Paraplegia or Quadriplegia
Coronary Insufficiency Parkinson's Disease
Coronary Occlusion Poliomyelitis
Cystic Fibrosis Polycystic Kidney
Friedreich's Ataxia Severe Traumatic Brain Injury
Hemophilia (Classical) Sickle Cell Anemia
Hodgkin's Disease Silicosis Pneumoconiosis
(Black Lung)
Huntington's Chorea Syringomyelia
Juvenile Diabetes Wilson's Disease
Kidney Failure Requiring Dialysis Leukemia
http://www.chip.state.il.us/...
A laudable list, indeed. And I want as many as these people to get insurance as possible. From the article it appears there won't be many.
But people like me -- 60 years old who have the highest insurance rates of anyone (I have not been able to afford insurance for the last five years) with chronic but not quite so serious illnesses: asthma, high blood pressure, the cataracts from my asthma medications that will render me pretty much blind (at least in one eye) within six months. Nothing. Blind until Medicare? Unable to work -- I teach quilting and I'm a researcher. How do you do that without your eyes?
I'm willing to pay. I'm willing to pay as much as I possibly can. I thought maybe instead of paying the $6,000 out-of-pocket for my cataract surgery I could put it toward health insurance. Don't quite know where we're going to find the money anyway, but we're doing our best to come up with it. I need my eyes.
The Ohio plan will cover any pre-existing condition as long as you have proof of said condition and/or a rejection letter for that condition (I paraphrase).
Illinois, and I imagine any number of other states, will make it much harder if not impossible for people to apply for the program. The irony: the states whose politicians fought HIR reform the hardest are using the Federal program, which is the most liberal (similar to the requirements of Ohio from what I understand). A blue state like Illinois will make it harder for its uninsured to qualify.
I say again -- someone with leukemia should be covered before I get coverage. I mean that will all my heart. But at this moment, my hopes of getting insurance are dashed and it is quite a blow.
HHS has not yet accepted Illinois' proposal. They still don't have an insurance carrier lined up (thanks to our great state legislature). The Medicare buy-in would have been my dream -- there are very few people my age who don't have some pre-existing condition that puts insurance out of reach for them.
When I applied for the regular Illinois high risk pool about 5 years ago, the premiums were about half what we made that year. I have never had coverage for my asthma (or anything to do with my pulmonary system); so I always had to pay for my medications out-of-pocket, which made affording insurance on top of that darn near impossible. My husband and I have been self-employed for 30 years. It's a nightmare.
It appears that the nightmare will continue. But let's extend those Bush tax cuts!