Illinois to promote KidCare insurance

Proposed legislation would enroll children in program at birth

By Nicholas Alajakis

Senior Reporter

Legislation soon will be introduced to the Illinois State Senate that automatically would enroll newborns in Illinois’ KidCare health insurance program.

State Sen. Barak Obama (D-Chicago) said he would introduce the legislation this month as a way to make sure that all children eligible for the KidCare program are enrolled.

Currently, there are more than 230,000 children receiving medical coverage through the program, which aims to help working families that struggle financially. Under the new proposal, about 100,000 more children would be enrolled, said Pam Smith, a spokeswoman for Obama.

Smith said the automatic enrollment is something many legislators are behind.

However, State Sen. Dave Syverson (R-Rockford), who was responsible for starting KidCare in 1995, said the proposal does not go along with KidCare’s initiative, adding that not many legislators he has talked to are behind the idea.

Not everyone eligible wants to be enrolled, Syverson said. KidCare is a program that teaches responsibility when it comes to having medical insurance, he added.

Families enrolled have to apply for coverage and pay a $5 monthly premium. That sort of responsibility is something that a lot of recipients appreciated, Syverson said, because it does not make the medical coverage feel like a handout.

Problems with the legislation don’t end with the perception that it’s being treated as a handout, Syverson said.

Automatically enrolling children at birth makes the assumption that the children are eligible, he said. Recipients of KidCare must fall into a certain financial bracket.

Recipients are a step above Medicare, the national health care service that caters to low- and no-income families. It’s for medium-income families, Syverson said.

Since its introduction nine years ago, KidCare in Illinois has become the most successful program of its kind in the country, Smith said. Obama’s plan is to make it stronger.

“We want to make health care coverage a birthright,” Obama said.

If passed, automatic enrollment would be conducted at hospitals, schools or driver’s license facilities.