Medicaid for More Folks Who Need It?

Ooh ooh ooh, guess what?!  There's a bill pending in Illinois that would expand Medicaid to low-income folks, whether they're disabled or not!   Dig it!

A Medicaid expansion bill we love is pending in Springfield, introduced by state senator Jeffrey M. Schoenberg (woot woot!). All the cool kids call the bill SB1855 (that's 'SB' for 'senate bill,' doncha know). It would expand Medicaid eligibility to any uninsured person aged 50 to 64 with an income at or below the federal poverty level (that's $10,830 a year for 2009) (we're using too many parenthetical expressions in this blog post). Those folks won't have to be disabled or otherwise 'categorically eligible' for regular Medicaid; anyone in that age rage with low income and no insurance would qualify for Medicaid. In other words, Illinois will finally say, 'You're poor, you're uninsured, you're getting up in years, we want to give you health insurance so that you can get routine medical care and not end up in the emergency room with a catastrophic problem that will require massive, expensive intervention that the public health system will have to pay for.' It's downright logical.

SB1855 would also expand Medicaid eligibility to people between the ages of 19 and 49 who: 1) have income below the federal poverty level; 2) have applied for SSI, and; 3) have been determined by the Department of Healthcare and Family Services to be "probably eligible for SSI on the basis of disability." Now, all you policy wonks out there are thinking, 'Wait a minute. There is already a Medicaid program for people who have applied for SSI and are 'probably' disabled. It's the Medicaid P3 program.' Sure, that program exists, but have you ever tried to get a P3 approval out of the Department of Human Services? You've got a better chance of seeing the blessed virgin in your cat's litter box. SB1855 will (hopefully) provide a good end-run around the P3 program and actually get Medicaid to people who need it.

Don't you want to call or write your legislators to voice your support for SB1855? Of course you do. So do it, already. If you don't know who your legislators are (and don't feel bad, most of us here don't know the name of that cute vampire guy in 'Twilight'), just do a search here at the State Board of Elections. Easy peasy!