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The Business of Health: Health care is the No. 1 private employer in the Rock River Valley. Deborah Austin covers the business of health: what providers are doing, how the workplace is changing and what consumers need to know.

Archive for July 1st, 2008

Health coverage info organized to make sense

Add comment July 1st, 2008

If you don’t have health insurance, and are lost in the quagmire of trying to research your options, a program called “Coverage for All” could help.

“Coverage For All” is a program of the Foundation for Health Education Coverage, a nonprofit organization that helps uninsured people navigate health care coverage options state by state.

The “Coverage for All” Web site includes:

* A free U.S. Uninsured Help Line at 1-800-234-1317 which gives callers live one-on-one help in basic screening for public and private health coverage, and assistance in pinpointing their options. The Help Line is staffed around the clock with specialists and interpreters for help in multiple languages.

* A 5-Question Eligibility Quiz tool, with a special resource section on finding public or low-cost health benefits.

* The Health Care Options Matrix — which outlines public and private health coverage options including type of coverage, eligibility and monthly costs for each of the 50 states.  I pulled up the matrix for Illinois.  It showed an organized chart which included summaries of publicly sponsored programs — such as CHIP, All Kids and Medicare — worded in a way that actually was understandable. The chart describes each program with information about coverage, eligibility and monthly costs.