If you have diabetes, your blood glucose levels rise because of the foods you eat. Foods have little effect on blood glucose in people without diabetes. …
After a year, All Kids Bridge program to help chronically ill young adults
is not running
State has been refining the details, official says
By Judith Graham | Chicago Tribune reporter
10:16 PM CDT, September 7, 2008
A year ago, Gov Rod Blagojevich, frustrated by legislative logjams and
eager to advance his health-care agenda, announced an expansion of the
states All Kids program
Instead of having benefits cut off at age 19, young people with organ
transplants, diabetes and other serious medical conditions would continue
to get subsidized state coverage until their 21st birthdays, he promised
It hasnt happened
The program, dubbed All Kids Bridge, doesnt exist, and the state has not
proposed a plan to the Illinois Comprehensive Health Insurance Program, the
organization charged with running it, several sources confirmed
Weve been waiting and waiting, and clients keep calling wanting to know
how they can sign up, said Stephanie Altman, policy director at Health
Disability Advocates, a public-interest group based in Chicago We have to
tell them-theres nothing there
All Kids is a first-in-the-nation program that offers health insurance to
every Illinois child up to age 18
Kids at lower income levels get
subsidized coverage
The problem arises when teens age out of the program As single adults,
theyre not eligible for Medicaid in Illinois As individuals with pre-
existing conditions, they dont qualify for private insurance And as
people just starting out in life, they cant afford coverage through the
states high-risk insurance pool
This was the situation the governor vowed to fix by extending coverage, but
nothing has been done yet Blagojevich is frequently criticized for being
more interested in floating new initiatives than following up with
implementation
In August 2007, when the governor announced All Kids Bridge, he insisted on
the need for the health-care expansion If the legislature wont do it,
then Im going to do it, he said at a news conference at La Rabida
Childrens Hospital in Chicago At the time, state officials said efforts
to find applicants were already under way
Despite several requests from the Tribune, the state would not make an
official available for an interview In a statement, Susan Hofer, a
spokeswoman for the Division of Insurance, said: At this point, the
administration is still working with the [insurance] board to
finalize
program details
We are entirely committed to All Kids Bridge, she said, saying the state
had spent the last year refining the details
Separately, Hofer confirmed that nine members of the 12-person insurance
board were serving expired terms or awaiting Senate confirmation That
could make it extremely difficult for the board to approve a significant
health-care expansion
According to previously announced estimates, All Kids Bridge would help
about 3,500 ill young adults annually for 15 million to 20 million
Virtually all of the young adults come from low-income families and have
parents who are uninsured or on public support
Because these young adults come from families who dont have private
insurance, they wont be helped by a separate health-care plan for young
adults that the governor announced last month That program will let
families with private coverage keep children on their policies until age
26
Kayla Helser, 20, is one of those affected by the All Kids Bridge delay
For four years, she has had frequent grand mal epileptic seizures that
strike suddenly
You drop things You fall Your eyes roll back Youre shaking all over
Its really scary, she said from her home in
Rockford, where she lives
with her grandparents who adopted her several years ago
Before turning 19, Helser received state-subsidized health insurance
through All Kids, qualifying because her familys income was low and her
grandparents didnt have private coverage
Once she became too old for the insurance plan, Helser was at a loss Who
would pay for the medications that keep her epilepsy under control? Who
would pay for the medical specialists she needs to see every three months?
Seeking help, her grandparents called Health Disability Advocates, which
has helped Helser secure free drugs from the Epilepsy Foundation, a
temporary arrangement
Meanwhile, Helser has applied for Social Security disability benefits, but
has been denied because she functions fairly well between seizures She has
applied for several jobs, but no one will hire her when she discloses she
has epilepsy She wants to go to college, but cant while her illness isnt
under control
For young people moving into adulthood and coping with a significant
illness, especially those from low-income families, this lack of coverage
is a terrible hardship, said Faye Manaster, project director for ARC of
Illinois Family to
Family Health Information and Education Center
Rosemary Briars, clinical director of the Chicago Childrens Diabetes
Center at La Rabida Childrens Hospital, said she sees the effect every
day
When these kids fall out of All Kids, theres nothing for them, she said
Families have to totally rearrange their budgets or cut back on care
thats been keeping a young person healthy
Marquis Hart, 19, learned Feb 1 that his All Kids coverage had ended His
mother, Linda Hart, a nursing assistant who is uninsured, has since been
borrowing money from family and friends for her sons diabetes supplies:
90 a month for two types of insulin, 100 a month for a box of syringes
for injections, and more for alcohol pads and strips for his glucose
monitor
Hes only taking his [blood] sugar [levels] when he feels funny because he
[doesnt] have coverage anymore, and I dont have the money to pay for what
he needs, Hart said
Marquis Hart is enrolling as a freshman at Daley College this month, but
the school wont pay for his diabetes supplies and medications Hart, who
plans to major in computers and business, is anxious about whats going to
happen to his health
Its a struggle to get the money to pay for
what I need Id like to try
to work, but no ones hiring, he said If only they could help me out
until I find a way to better myself
jegraham@tribunecom
Source:dxu.com
