"Especially during these hard economic times, we need to ensure that children who are enrolled in the ALL KIDS program can continue to be served by the program even if their parents fall behind on premium payments," said Senator Delgado, Chairman of the Illinois Senate Public Health Committee. "Ensuring that this health insurance option remains open to them is a priority."

House Bill 5927 removes a provision in the law that makes children ineligible for the ALL KIDS program for three months if their premium payments are late. ALL KIDS provides comprehensive coverage including doctors’ visits, hospital stays, prescription drugs, vision care, dental care and medical devices like eyeglasses and asthma inhalers.

The ALL KIDS program was created to make healthcare a reality for hundreds of thousands of families across the state. Illinois is the first state in the nation to provide affordable, comprehensive health insurance for every child. Of the 250,000 children in Illinois without health insurance, more than half come from working and middle class families who earn too much to qualify for state programs like KidCare, but not enough to afford private health insurance. Through the All Kids program, comprehensive health insurance is available to every uninsured child throughout the state, at rates that are affordable to their parents.

"Providing every child with health coverage means better attendance and performance in our schools," Senator Delgado stated. "For parents, having their children covered under a health insurance program can account for improve productivity in the workplace because of less time off and less worry about sick children. But more importantly, this program gives every child the chance to grow up healthy."

For more information on the ALL KIDS program please visitwww.allkids.com or call the All Kids Hotline: 1-866-ALL-KIDS (1-866-255-5437).