On July 1, 2006, the Illinois All-Kids program will officially begin covering newly-enrolled children. The state began to take applications for newly-eligible children in the spring.
Prior to All-Kids, Illinois covered children up to 200 percent of the federal poverty line (FPL) via KidCare, the Illinois Children’s Health Insurance Program. Analysis of the uninsured showed that approximately one-half of the uninsured children in Illinois resided in families that earned more than 200 percent FPL. The All-Kids program was designed for these uninsured children. Of the 250,000 eligible uninsured children in Illinois, the state predicts year one enrollment of 50,000 children and additional enrollment in public programs designed for parents as outreach makes the public more aware of these programs.
All-Kids will be available to any child uninsured for six months or more and the cost to the family is determined on a sliding scale. Illinois has also linked the All-Kids program with other existing public programs such as FamilyCare (coverage for parents up to 185 percent FPL) and KidCare via their online application. In addition, the state has undertaken a public outreach program called the All-Kids Training Tour that will highlight the new and expanded healthcare programs offered by Illinois.
The state currently draws federal funds, via the KidCare program, for any enrolled child under 200 percent FPL. For children above 200 percent FPL, the state will pay for the program with savings from the Medicaid program which will be generated by transitioning 1.2 million of the 1.7 million total Medicaid enrollees into a mandatory Primary Care Case Management (PCCM) model. The PCCM system will create medical homes for current and future Medicaid enrollees and link patients with disease management services. Illinois has yet to receive federal approval to implement PCCM within Medicaid. The state is not currently seeking federal authority to obtain a federal match for children over 200 percent FPL.
The state predicts savings of $56 million in state funds during the first year through the implementation of the PCCM program plus disease management, and these savings will be used to pay for year one of the All-Kids program. State officials estimate All-Kids will cost $45 million in state funds in its first year.
