CHICAGO
In the midst of an economic downturn, Illinois children were slightly more likely to be covered by health insurance in 2009 than the year before, according to newly released U.S. Census Bureau figures.
The numbers suggest government safety net programs, including former Gov. Rod Blagojevich's "All Kids" expansion of coverage, are helping some children when parents lose benefits along with jobs.
The census data released Tuesday show the percentage of Illinois children with health insurance grew between 2008 and 2009, from about 94 percent to about 95 percent.
Macon County had the highest rate of uninsured children of the 23 largest counties in Illinois. The 2009 census data show nearly 14 percent of Macon County children were uninsured that year.
Among Macon County residents of all ages, about 15 percent were uninsured, the census data show, making it one of the highest county rates of uninsurance in the state, along with Cook and Kankakee counties. The overall rate of uninsurance in Illinois was 13.3 percent in 2009.
"We very much live paycheck to paycheck," said school bus driver Kim Bennett, 49, of Decatur in Macon County. "By the time we pay for everything, there isn't enough money left to get insurance."
The loss of manufacturing jobs in Macon County left many families without health coverage, said Barbara Dunn, executive director of the Community Health Improvement Center in Decatur. The county's high uninsurance rate for children will spur her health centers to be more aggressive in urging parents to cover their kids, she said.
"We are going to push them harder," Dunn said. "We're going to ask, why are they uninsured?"
Illinois was the first state to promise health insurance to all children. Blagojevich's expansion of insurance to illegal immigrant children and children whose family income is too high for traditional government insurance cost $70 million last year.
The children added under "All Kids" - about 94,500 children in 2009 - aren't eligible for federal funds, so the program's cost falls on state taxpayers.
The new census data show other states with child insurance rates as high or higher than Illinois. Massachusetts, the model for the new national health law, did the best with 98.5 percent of children insured.
Others with high rates of insurance for kids in 2009 were Connecticut, the District of Columbia, Hawaii, Iowa, New Hampshire, New York and Vermont.
In Illinois, depending on family income, parents can pay from zero to $300 per child per month for coverage under All Kids. A family of four making $72,000 a year can pay $140 a month for two or more children, or $70 a month for one child.
Some parents don't insure their children because they don't want to pay the premiums, said Dunn, who runs several safety net health clinics in central Illinois. Others neglect to do the paperwork or are embarrassed to sign up for a government program, she said.
At about 5 percent, Illinois' rate of uninsured children is far better than the national rate of 9 percent uninsured children in 2009.
"Illinois is proud to be among the top states in covering children, and is thrilled that the new data shows that 95 percent of all Illinois' children have health insurance of some kind," said Illinois Healthcare and Family Services Director Julie Hamos.
The figures come from the American Community Survey, which is sent to about 3 million households each year. The survey started asking about health coverage in 2008.
Nationally, the number of people covered by private health insurance fell from 201.0 million to 194.5 million from 2008 to 2009, according to the Census Bureau. The number covered by government programs climbed from 87.4 million to 93.2 million.
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