Durbin's Efforts Payoff for Uninsured in Illinois

DURBIN'S EFFORTS PAYOFF FOR UNINSURED IN ILLINOIS

U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) applauded the passage of the State High-Risk Pool Funding Extension Act, H.R. 4519, which passed the Senate late last night. High-risk pools provide health insurance options to individuals with medical conditions that make it impossible for them to qualify for health insurance coverage in the regular market. The bill now goes to the President for his signature.

Durbin was successful in securing a compromise that guarantees Illinois will receive its fair share of federal grants for the operation of high-risk pools. According to the compromise, Illinois will receive $5.4 million. Under the original bill, Illinois was scheduled to receive just $3.8 million in federal funds.

"This is a victory for uninsured Illinoisans who rely on this state-federal program for their health insurance," Durbin said. "I could not stand idly by when the earlier bill would have resulted in hundreds of Illinoisans losing their health insurance. The Senate took an important step forward last night by passing a formula that is more fair to Illinois and other large states."

Durbin noted that he opposed the original bill because it "cut funding to states with large numbers of uninsured people, such as Illinois, Colorado, Indiana, Maryland and Oklahoma, and increased funding to states with a smaller number of uninsured Americans. There is no reason a state like Illinois, which has 1.8 million people lacking access to health insurance, should suffer a 60 percent cut in funding while a state like South Dakota with 90,000 uninsured people sees its funding more than double. The money should follow the people in need, not be determined by politics."

http://durbin.senate.gov/record.cfm?id=251122&&