Blast From The Past: Barack Obama Expanded Health Care to Over 100,000 in Illinois

As a state Senator in Illinois, Barack Obama worked across party lines to write a health care bill that was signed into law by the governor. Obama’s bill expanded health care coverage to over 300,000 Illinois residents.

The Chicago Daily Herald reported on July 2, 2003:

Gov. Rod Blagojevich signed a bill Tuesday expanding two low- cost health insurance programs aimed at thousands of working poor families who make too much for Medicaid but too little to realistically afford private coverage.

The expansion of the KidCare and FamilyCare programs makes 20,000 more children and 65,000 more adults immediately eligible, the governor said.

And within three years, as the eligibility range continues to expand to higher income levels, another 300,000 adults will be eligible to sign up, he said.

“Tens of thousands of working families … are literally one illness away from catastrophe,” Blagojevich said at a bill-signing ceremony at Children’s Memorial Hospital in Chicago. “A good society, a compassionate society, doesn’t sit idly by and let these families fend for themselves.”

The bill was sponsored in the state House by Sandra Pihos, a Glen Ellyn Republican, and in the state Senate by Barack Obama, a Chicago Democrat.

For KidCare, it boosts the maximum amount allowed to be earned by eligible families from 185 percent of the federal poverty level to 200 percent. That means the cut-off for a family of three, for example, has been raised from $28,236 to $30,516, Blagojevich said.

KidCare provides health care coverage for doctor visits, dental care, specialty medical services, hospital care, prescription drugs, emergency care and more. The program was set to expire Tuesday, the first day of the new fiscal year, but is now permanent.

FamilyCare is a newer program created for pregnant mothers and parents of children in KidCare. Before Tuesday’s bill, parents making 49 percent of the federal poverty level were eligible. The expansion raises that to 90 percent now and to 185 percent in three years, officials said.

The expansions will cost the state a combined $25.8 million next year, money Blagojevich set aside despite the budget crunch. By the time the full FamilyCare expansion is implemented, it alone will cost the state $63 million a year, he said.

But because the state is upping its contributions, the federal government will boost its share, kicking in 65 cents for every 35 cents Illinois pays. Blagojevich said past governors missed out on millions of dollars of the matching money by not expanding the programs.

“In tough economic times, this just shows how much we care about the well-being of the children and families of the state,” Pihos said.