Cobra Coverage vs Illinois KidCare

[TyRy]

Hi all,

I wondered if anyone on the board had any experience with Illinois Kidcare. My sister was laid off a couple of weeks ago and her insurance is up tomorrow. My niece arrived this past weekend and they were all ready with their paperwork for Kidcare - all they needed were her footprints. Fast forward to today and they go to sign up the newborn and are told it would be 45 days before Kidcare can kick in.

That's not going to work to have the baby uncovered for the next month and a half and now my sis is thinking she'll will have to come up with the HUGE dollars for Cobra for both her and the baby.

Does anyone have any experince with Kidcare in Illinois...is this true? Please feel free to PM me if you'd rather not post about it. Just trying to get answers ASAP.

Thanks!

Tracy

 

[Leajess99]

Has she looked into Moms and Babies to cover until Kidcare can?? Have her check into that. http://www.allkids.com/pregnant.html#momsbabies There are options available for alot less than Cobra

 

[TyRy]

Has she looked into Moms and Babies to cover until Kidcare can?? Have her check into that. http://www.allkids.com/pregnant.html#momsbabies There are options available for alot less than Cobra

Thanks Leajess99 -I just sent my sister that link. Since I haven't looked into anything I had no idea about this. I thought Kids Care was this, but it seems different.

Unfortunately, my Dsis did not take the time to research anything and will look to take the easiest way out (in this case Cobra and having my parents pay for it.) It would be nice if she would call and get this ASAP.

Thanks again.

 

[ssawka]

I'm not sure about what the baby will need over the next 45 days, but for your sister, I would hold off on getting Cobra. She should verify this, but I think you have 45 days to sign up for Cobra after leaving a job and when you sign up it can be "back dated" to the day your employment ended. So, most people don't sign up for it unless they have a medical issue until their new coverage starts. Now, I'm not sure what the baby and new mom need over the next 45 days, but esentially if they don't need anything then they are covered (without paying for it).

 

[kelleyrn2000]

She should check this but I believe Kidcare will cover retroactively a
and she may just need her application papers. That is what happens for the pregnant women under Kidcare.

 

[espana94]

We had IL AllKids for about 8 months when I was out of work. My Cobra started out at $900 a month for the whole family. When my former company renegotiated their health care coverage, my Cobra payments skyrocketed to $2300 a month for a family of five. Since I have a child with a medical condition, stopping health care was not an option. We moved the kids to AllKids until I found a new job and we purchased private health care insurance for DH and me. Once I went back to work, we dropped AllKids and the private health insurance

Allkids works on a sliding premium based on income. We paid $200 a month and had higher copays than others might have. I have to tell you it was a god send. My daughter had spinal fusion surgery last December, AllKids covered almost all of the cost of the surgery. Our hospital copay was $200 on a $153,000 bill. Allkids also covered 4 months of intensive rehab and physical therapy with minimal copay.

In our case, coverage was not retroactive. But, you can list prior expenses that you would like covered when you apply. Reimbursement of those are handled on a case by case basis. I applied for coverage toward the end of March 2009. We were approved for coverage by the first week of April. Our coverage was effective May 1st.

The downside to Allkids is that sometimes it is hard to find a Dr. to treat you. For example, My DD18 needed her wisdom teeth removed. At the time there were only three oral surgeons on Nothern IL who took AllKids. The earliest appointment I could get was 4 months later. It took three solid days of phone calls to find a dental practice that would help us immediately and take the AllKids. Even then, I had to wait 5 weeks for referral and approval for surgical extractions

Even with that issue, I strongly recommend that you have your sister look into AllKids. There is also a program for parents. However, we didn't qualify for that. Even with me being out of work, we still made "too much money" once my unemployment was factored in.

Here is the link to the State's website:

http://www.allkidscovered.com/

Feel free to send me PM if you have any other questions.

Espana