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Champaign, IL 61820
Phone: (217) 352-5600
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Chicago, IL 60605
Phone: (312) 913-9449
Fax: (312) 913-9559
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Success Stories
Covered Just in Time
Before All Kids, thirteen-year-old Megan Beelart was uninsured and on her last life-saving inhaler. The Beelart family and extended relatives were at their wits end, pooling together money for regular asthma management visits. Yet, despite their best efforts to bare these costs alone, the family simply could not afford the expensive medications prescribed by Megan’s physicians. In the midst of this emotionally intense situation, her grandmother Brenda Rueff explained, “Megan’s doctors have been supplying one or two (inhalers), here and there. But that can’t last forever. Megan has three or four different asthma medications. I’m so scared she could end up in the emergency room or worse.”
For a decade, the Beelart family has been struggling to keep health insurance. In 1995, Megan’s father Fred experienced a debilitating neck and shoulder injury. No longer able to work, he began to collect social security disability benefits. This unforeseen event was a major blow to the family’s earning potential. The Beelart’s lost their health insurance, but luckily, Megan qualified for and was covered by KidCare, a state health plan for low-income children.
For the next several years, the family lived paycheck to paycheck. But as household bills mounted higher, in late 2004 Megan’s mother Debbie secured a job as a school janitor to make ends meet. This little bit of new revenue broke the benefits balancing act. Not only did the family no longer meet income requirements for KidCare, but it was too expensive to add Megan to her mother's employer-provided health plan. "Megan has asthma, a pre-existing condition. It would cost as much as Debbie makes in a month," says Brenda. She goes on to say, "It's a Catch 22. Debbie's always wanted to work because that brings pride and dignity. But she didn't want to lose KidCare. Now she decided to better herself (with a job) and Megan is uninsured."
Needless to say, the Beelart’s long-awaited prayers were answered when Governor Blagojevich introduced All Kids, a state plan to offer comprehensive, affordable health coverage to all Illinois children. In August of 2006, the family celebrated that for the first time in over a year Megan could breathe easy. With her new All Kids insurance policy, the family no longer felt guilt or stress in not being able to afford desperately needed health care for their daughter. In fact, many families probably feel the same. It’s estimated that 253,000 children will be covered who could previously not afford insurance. “It’s a Godsend,” says Brenda.
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