Illinois Health Insurance
Why You Should have Health Insurance in Illinois
If you are living without health insurance in the State of Illinois and are seeking proper coverage for you and your family, there are available outlets. Government programs like Illinois Medicaid, Health Benefits for Workers with Disabilities, FamilyCare, All Kids, Health Women, and CHIP offer a great deal of support – both financially and medically.
Most people are covered through their employer, paying a percentage of any medical costs (roughly 70%-80%) for doctors’ services and/or hospital visits. If you are just starting a job, you may have to wait the usual 3-month probationary period before any benefits kick in. In the meantime, there are short-term health insurance plans in Illinois that can help give you peace of mind regarding unexpected medical emergencies. A major reason why a short-term option plan should be considered is because the duration is flexible. Choose from 30 days to 365 days, the choice is up to you.
Are you between jobs but still want to be covered medically? COBRA is available. The State of Illinois agreed in the 1985 federal legislation to provide COBRA to the public. The mandate states that if your employer has more than 20 employees and you decide to leave the company, you can still be insured temporarily under the company plan for an additional 18-36 months. The ex-employee is required to reimburse the company for the cost of the insurance plan plus a 2% admin fee, which is feasible considering you are still protected under the company’s health insurance plan.
Self-employed? Most small businesses in Illinois can qualify for health insurance under Small Group Plans. If you are an employer and have at least 2 employees, insurance companies like Aetna and BCBS offers coverage and benefit plans that could meet those needs. Although these packages are similar to other group plans, expect for premiums to be higher as they are subject to medical underwriting. No one can be denied in the group, but the carrier can increase rates based on the health history of the employees.
After Barack Obama signed the healthcare reform bill, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, it is planned that by 2014, Medicaid will cover very low-income people who have not been covered before, specifically non-disabled adults without children.
The Illinois Comprehensive Health Insurance Program (CHIP) exists to help those who are medically uninsurable. CHIP assists those individuals who are seeking for basic health coverage within the State of Illinois. To qualify, one must meet one of the following criteria:
- if previously applied for individual health insurance and was rejected because of a pre-existing condition
- if you are currently under an individual policy that is similar to The Traditional Plan that CHIP offers, but it is much more pricey
- if you are living with an uninsurable condition that is on an approved medical list (which resulted in a rejection by an insurance company)
The most popular Illinois health insurance companies are:
- Humana Autograph Total Plus Rx
- Aetna PPO 5000
- Humana Autograph Share PPO
- Assurant Health PPO CoreMed Plan
- Aetna HAS PPO High Deductible
- UnitedHealthOne Network Copay Select
- UnitedHealthOne HSA 100
- Aetna PPO Value
- SelectBlue Advantage PPO
- Humana Portrait Share PPO
- SelectBlue PPO
Use this list as a guideline for acquiring health insurance in Illinois. After understanding the types of options that are made available, it’s time to cross and compare. Obtaining health insurance quotes is easy. By filling out your zip code, you can determine what your medical needs are and find the best insurance company that fulfills it.
