Back-to-School Is a Great Time to Enroll Children in All Kids
In the next several weeks kids throughout the state will head back to school. As summer vacation comes to a close, annual vaccinations and check-ups are often on the back-to-school to-do list of Illinois families. But for the estimated 148,000 uninsured children in Illinois, accessing these services can be a challenge. Fortunately, in Illinois this is a problem we can solve. In Illinois every uninsured child qualifies for Illinois’ public health insurance program: All Kids. For kids whose families cannot afford or do not have the choice of employer-sponsored coverage, All Kids is there to catch them so their families have one less thing to worry about during these difficult economic times.
Health insurance coverage allows children to get the care they need so they can spend more days in the classroom. Healthy children can grow and thrive. And children who have access to care now are much more likely to grow into healthy, productive adults. In fact, a recent study found that children enrolled in All Kids were significantly more likely to have had a well-child visit in the last year than uninsured children. And parents of children enrolled in All Kids were significantly more likely to report that their children had a usual source of care than did parents of uninsured children. Enrolling every uninsured child in All Kids health insurance can ensure that children have access to care so they are ready for the first day of school, have eyeglasses so they can see the chalkboard, dental exams so they are not distracted by a toothache, and medications for childhood illnesses like asthma so they can run and play.
Check out the Shriver Center’s All Kids Enrollment Event Toolkit for resources and best practices for enrolling eligible children in All Kids. And be sure to take a look at the new resources from Cover the Uninsured on back-to-school efforts. Parents can enroll their children in All Kids online or find an All Kids Application Agent in their area who can assist with the application process.
This article was coauthored by Carrie Gilbert.
