United Power for Action and Justice, a coalition of health-care, religious and community groups, has launched its first initiative to reduce the number of uninsured in the Chicago area.
The Gilead Center, housed in an office at the Metropolitan Chicago Healthcare Council in Chicago, initially will try to refer people without health insurance to programs and services for which they are eligible.
With $6 million in support from various business and government sources, Gilead will launch a marketing campaign and grass-roots enrollment drive in mid-December. A toll-free number will be established early next year.
“One effort is to get those who are eligible for government programs enrolled into them, and the second piece is to link those who aren’t eligible for public benefits to community health centers or safety net providers,” said Michael Savage, chairman of the coalition.
A network of churches, schools, businesses and health-care facilities will help Gilead find the estimated 350,000 uninsured people in the Chicago area who may be eligible for medical services, Savage said.
Cardinal Francis George of the Archdiocese of Chicago and Chicago Schools chief Paul Vallas joined executives from the medical, business and labor communities to launch an awareness campaign Saturday at Loyola University Medical Center in Maywood.
Gilead wants “to be more proactive through churches and community organizations and give people the information they need for a referral so there is a health center or physician group in their neighborhood where they can go and receive care,” said Richard Risk, chief executive at Advocate Health Care, which operates eight hospitals and affiliated clinics throughout the Chicago area.
The network of groups is needed to reach out to uninsured individuals of all ages who aren’t tapping into programs available to them, such as federal benefits for veterans and other military personnel, or KidCare, the state’s subsidized insurance initiative for children and pregnant women. About 104,000 of an estimated 200,000 eligible people were enrolled in the KidCare program, according to state figures from this summer.
The state sees Gilead as an opportunity to further increase KidCare enrollment, Gilead’s backers say. The state’s financial contribution to Gilead includes $250,000 in general revenue funds and an additional amount up to $750,000 to target women and children eligible for KidCare.
Other major financial contributions include a $985,000 grant from the federal Health Resource Services Administration, nearly $500,000 from area hospitals and a $300,000 commitment from Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Illinois, the state’s largest health insurer.
Appointment limbo: So far, Gov. George Ryan’s new appointments to the Illinois Health Facilities Planning Board are preserving the status quo.
The governor last week announced Stuart Levine, Lou Libert and William Marovitz would be reappointed to the planning board, which regulates major medical equipment purchases and capital expansions of health facilities in Illinois.
Meanwhile, the fate of planning board Chairwoman Pam Taylor of Danville and three others remains a mystery. Although Taylor’s term expired more than a year ago, her reign of more than two decades as chairman continues until a new member is appointed or the governor reappoints her.
“Those are still under review,” said Nick Palazzolo, a spokesman for the governor. “The governor hasn’t indicated a timetable for those appointments or reappointments.”
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