A multi-million dollar grant, secured from the United States government, provides insurance relief to the people of Illinois covered by the Illinois Comprehensive Health Insurance Plan's (ICHIP) high risk health insurance pool. This grant is used to help working families who are in transition between jobs and who have no other access to health insurance plans. Illinois is one of only two states using this grant money to provide insurance premium relief.
ICHIP allocated $5.365 million in federal funds distributed to the state by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, for insurance premium relief for the 11,000 enrollees in the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) pool. The average amount of premium relief will be $482 in 2005. The one-time reduction in premiums will range from $160 to more than $1,000 depending on several factors, such as age and residence.
HIPAA provides for the portability of health insurance coverage, without regard to pre-existing health problems, to persons coming off group coverage and who have otherwise exhausted their COBRA or state continuation benefits. HIPAA is one of several health insurance programs administered by the Illinois Comprehensive Health Insurance Plan (ICHIP).
ICHIP provides access to health insurance coverage for some Illinois residents who have been denied access to major medical coverage by private insurers because of pre-existing health problems. ICHIP also serves as the state's agency of compliance with the individual portability requirements of the federal Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act.
John Berkowitz of Chicago's Medequote agency comments, "ICHIP is a huge safety net for everyone in this state who is unable to get individual health insurance from an individual and family plan, plus does not have acesss to an employer group. The rates to be in this high risk pool are expensive, and any type of temporary relief is welcom, but is not part of the long range solution which becomes more difficult to solve each year."
www.medequote.com
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2 comments:
I have recently eligible for the ICHIP program I am to pay $1828 quarterly. I am 61 yrs. of age and was fired from my job and I do not have any income. I am single and I am having a hard time financially. I broke my foot a month ago so I am unable to work is there any assistance for me.
Carolyn Schlatterer
If you are permanently disabled you qould qualify for disability through Social Security. If you have a low income, and are not permanently disabled you could qualify for medicaid.
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