Investing in Our Children by Supporting the All Kids Program
Investing in our children is investing in Illinois. When we help children grow and thrive, we are paving the way for our state’s next generation of healthy workers and leaders. Investing in our children means investing in their health through All Kids--Illinois’ nationally renowned health insurance program. Ensuring that every Illinois child has access to health insurance allows children to grow into healthy, productive adults. And we know that our investment is paying off because of the “All Kids Final Report”--a recently released study of the All Kids program. The Covering All Kids Health Insurance Act mandated the study, and it was conducted by the Health Evaluation Collaborative and Institute for Health Research and Policy at University of Illinois at Chicago School of Public Health.
The study aimed to measure the progress of the All Kids program in insuring children as well as examine areas for improvement. The study showed that the All Kids program has been hugely successful in helping to cover Illinois’ uninsured children: more than nine out of every ten Illinois children have health insurance coverage—many through the All Kids program or a parent’s workplace. While an overwhelming majority of the children who are eligible for employer-sponsored coverage were enrolled in that coverage, that is not an option afforded to all. Luckily, All Kids is there to catch those kids whose families cannot afford or do not have the choice of employer-sponsored coverage so their families have one less thing to worry about during these difficult economic times.
Since All Kids was first offered, the rate of uninsured children has dropped dramatically. At the beginning of the All Kids program, one out of every five low-income children were uninsured, but today, that number is down to approximately one in twenty low-income children. The majority of this enrollment growth since All Kids became available to all uninsured children is among children who were already eligible before the program was expanded. Children are the least expensive population to insure, and the investment now in their health will pay back in dividends later. Research shows that individuals with access to health care as children are less likely to have chronic health problems as adults.
The recently released study also showed that children in All Kids were significantly more likely to have received an annual check-up and to have seen a dentist in the last 12 months than uninsured children, which means that they received necessary vaccinations and illnesses could be caught early to allow for more time in the classroom. Parents of All Kids’ enrollees were also more likely to report that their child had a “medical home” than both parents of uninsured children and privately insured children, which means that the state of Illinois has been successful in connecting All Kids’ enrollees to a provider who knows the child's health history and can provide health care on a regular basis. These investments are crucial to ensure Illinois kids are ready to learn and on the right track to become healthy, productive young adults.
The study also highlighted areas for improvement, including connecting All Kids’ enrollees to the care they need. We need to ensure that All Kids enrollees can get appointments with specialty doctors when they need them and that providers and clinics offer expanded hours for working parents to take their children to their primary care provider. Overall, the study findings show that there is much to be proud of with the All Kids program: It is leading the way in covering kids, which benefits our entire state. Every child should be able to count on access to affordable, quality health insurance and care, and supporting the All Kids’ program isn’t just the right thing to do. It’s one of the best investments we can make as a state.
This article was co-authored by Kathy Chan, Associate Director, Illinois Maternal and Child Health Coalition.
