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Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Illinois Expands Its Children's Health Insurance Options for Families Currently Without Child Coverage

Posted on: Tuesday, 12 July 2005, 12:01 CDT

CHICAGO, July 12 /PRNewswire/ -- The Consumer Markets Division of Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Illinois (BCBSIL), in an effort to help families secure affordable health insurance for their children, announced today that it is revamping its series of health insurance policies that cover children ages one through 18. The new options for coverage will appeal to parents or guardians wishing to purchase an individual health insurance policy for a child.

According to Fred Karutz, vice president of Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Illinois, Consumer Markets, such coverage is critical to individuals who do not have dependent coverage through their employers.

"According to the U.S. Census Bureau, nearly 10 percent of children in Illinois are uninsured," said Karutz. "Many of these children come from working families whose employers do not offer coverage for dependents. One childhood illness could leave a family in serious financial trouble.

"These expanded policies will provide parents and guardians with more affordable and flexible health care coverage options for their children."

Under many typical health plans, an adult insuring one child would have to pay a full "family rate." Under the new Children's policies from BCBSIL, an adult can choose to insure the individual child only.

The Blue Cross and Blue Shield Children's policies will provide benefits for emergency care, hospitalization, physician and surgery services, prescription drugs, well-child care and many other health care services. The policies will be available as a stand alone option on BCBSIL's most popular existing products, including the four low-cost plans introduced last fall: BlueChoice(R) Select, BlueChoice(R) Value, SelectBlue Advantage(R), and BlueValue Advantage(R).

These extended plan options are being announced at a time when children's health insurance is making national headlines. In January of this year, legislation was introduced in the United States Senate that if passed would provide health coverage to people younger than age 21 with family incomes below the federal poverty level. Children in families with annual incomes between 100% and 300% of the federal poverty level would receive benefits funded jointly by the states and the federal government.

Even with such legislation, Karutz said, there are thousands of middle income families who carry no dependent insurance and need affordable options. About 11 million of the nation's approximately 45 million uninsured Americans are children.

For more information about the BCBSIL Children's policies, visit http://www.bcbsil.com/under65/children.htm.

About Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Illinois:

Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Illinois, a Division of Health Care Service Corporation, a Mutual Legal Reserve Company (HCSC), is the most experienced and largest health insurance company in the state. Currently, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Illinois provides health insurance coverage for more than 6.5 million people. HCSC is an independent licensee of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association, an association of independent Blue Cross and Blue Shield Plans.

Website: http://www.bcbsil.com/under65/children.htm

Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Illinois

CONTACT: Genia Kaplan-Quinn, +1-818-610-0270, for Blue Cross and BlueShield of Illinois

Source: PRNewswire

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