College student health-care plan to improve
Sarah Zeeck
 

Under Governor Rod Blagojevich's proposed "Illinois Covered" plan, college students will not only have the opportunity to remain dependents on their parents' insurance plans until they are 29 years old but will also enjoy improved insurance later in life.

Under the plan, three elements - Illinois Covered Choice, Illinois Covered Rebate and Illinois Covered Assist - will help enable affordable health care for all Illinois residents. In the Illinois Covered Assist portion, students who have jobs offering benefits and insurance will receive help in paying off high premiums.

"Oftentimes, students in college getting ready to graduate may not be hired right away for that great job that offers medical benefits," Blagojevich said in a March 27 press release. "They may end up taking a lower-paying job without benefits and being unable to afford to buy their own health insurance."

Dr. Eric E. Whitaker, state public health director, agreed with the governor during a press conference Tuesday at Western Illinois University. He said students fresh out of college may have trouble obtaining a job, and therefore are forced to take jobs without benefits; the independent graduates cannot afford to pay for their own health insurance.

"Several students have been having difficulties in getting jobs, and as a result, they may be living at home or struggling through graduate school and may not have health care coverage," Whitaker said. "The governor has put forth a historic budget proposal which will put generations of Illinoisans ahead."

He added that the governor's plan would allow everyone in the state the same access to affordable health care.

According to the governor's release, over 1.4 million Illinois adults are without health insurance.

"Seventy percent of those (1.4 million people) go to work every day, and some of those work two or three jobs, but the businesses that employ them aren't able to drop or insure them, so they struggle a lot," Whitaker said.

Even those people who do have health insurance will receive benefits from the new plan - lower costs will make insurance less of a burden.

"There's probably about 9.7 million people who are in that category," Whitaker added. "They have insurance, but the cost to pay for the premium is so much that they're making drastic choices between paying for their mortgage or their electricity bill and paying for their health insurance."

"Support for the Governor's plan is growing and we just want to make sure that you're aware that we need your (students') advocacy," Whitaker said. "We need you to get involved with your legislator."

More information concerning the Governor's plan can be found online at www.illinoiscovered.com.