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Illinois Health Insurance
Illinois Health insurance started in 1936, a group of business leaders pooled their own savings and launched a not-for-profit company called Hospital Service Corporation to offer an affordable pre-paid hospital plan, which was a new concept at that time. The Chicago Plan, as it was called, was one the forerunners of what we know as health insurance today. The idea, of course, caught on and Hospital Service Corporation eventually became Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Illinois (BCBSIL).
Blue Cross and Blue Shield Illinois (BCBSIL) dominated the marketplace through the fifties and early sixties and then a number of smaller private health care companies started forming and growing in the Midwest. The pool has gotten smaller over they years, and in the 1990's a period of consolidation began in the industry. Consolidation means fewer choices for the consumer, but Illinois is still blessed with many excellent choices for health insurance.
Assurant is the the largest of those independents, started in the early 1900's the company has focused on health insurance since the 1950's. They introduced the concept of short term health insurance with Time in the early 1970's. Assurant brands available in Illinois, Michigan, and Texas are Time Insurance, and John Alden.
UniCare a WellPoint subsidary joined the market place in the 1990's. They have become the second largest carrier in Illinois, and Texas. WellPoint uses the UniCare brand to position itself against competing BCBS licencess in states where WellPoint is not the BCBS licensee. Being part of the largest managed care company in the country gives UniCare policy holders rate renewal stability which is among the top in the industry.
World Insurance out of Omaha has been in business since in 1903. They have been selling health insurance, and medicare supplement to consumers since the 1950's. A solid presence in the marketplace has awoken this company as they recently obtained Ceres Group and their health insurance brands Continental General, and Central Reserve.
Humana is the original Employers Health out of Green Bay, Wisconsin. While insurance operations are still run in Green Bay where the company still has a large presence, the actual headquarters is in Louisville, Kentucky. Humana is more known for large group rather than individual health insurance, but in the past few years have jumped back into the Illinois indiviudual health insurance market.
Celtic began operating in 1978 as a broker, insurance and reinsurance company for group life and health coverage. Today, the company has narrowed its focus and holds a strong commitment to the individual health marketplace. The small local Chicago health insurance company is located in downtown in the Sears Tower.
Possible Future of Illinois Health Insurance
The Illinois health insurance pioneering spirit started in the 1930's continues on today as state legislators look for a way to provide health insurance to every single resident in the state of Illinois. Because so many people are losing health insurance, costs increase and the more employers reduce or do away with employer-sponsored health insurance, lawmakers feel that this is the time to put healthcare proposals on the table before the situation reaches a critical level.
It will be controversial and definitely expensive, but possibly a step toward reducing the uninsured and taking control of spending. Perhaps an example to other states, or perhaps it is replay of what happened in the Pacific Northwest which caused almost every health insurance carrier to leave the state after the insurance commissioner demanded universal coverage for all state residents. What Washington state was left with was a market that had few choices, very little selection, and extremely high rates.
Some of the items that are being proposed by various legislators include expanding Medicaid to cover more low-income adults, providing health insurance subsidies or tax incentives to small businesses, and letting the uninsured buy coverage through new insurance pools such as independent associations, or the chamber of commerce.
Illinois last year became the first state to promise medical coverage to all children. The All Kids Program debuts in July of this year. A model for all other states in the union to follow.
Everyone is feeling the pressure to make some changes which is bringing together groups of people with different interests that previously had never worked together before toward a common goal. Medical providers are feeling feeling the pinch. Consumers are feeling the pinch. Employers are feeling the pinch. There is a real feeling out there that this could be the last chance the state of Illinois has to do something to make sure that every resident has health coverage.
The reforms and reactions to them should see some time on the floor of the state legislature during this year's session. How it will all play out is anyone's guess, but before it is all done there will be considerable debate at every level.
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