The Sun-Times is reporting that Illinois will miss the July 1 deadline to establish a temporary high-risk health insurance pool for people with pre-existing conditions. State-run insurance pools are mandated under the sweeping health care reform package passed by congress earlier this year. The delay is due to the General Assembly's failure to pass the necessary legislation, which would enable the state to operate the federal program through the existing Illinois Comprehensive Health Insurance Plan. Illinois already has a contract in place with Blue Cross Blue Shield to insure high-risk enrollees but, according to Illinois Department of Insurance director Michael McRaith, the lack of appropriate legislation means that the state will go through the procurement process to find a plan administrator to insure people with pre-existing conditions, a process which could delay enrollment until August. more ›

Health insurance reform has been a big talking issue of the year. And it is wake has come an alarming fact: the lack of competition amongst health insurance providers in metropolitan areas. In Chicago Blue Cross Blue Shield covers 66 percent of the market - more than any other provider in a metropolitan area. In 54 percent of metropolitan markets at least one insurer had a market share of 50 percent or more, according to a study by the American Medical Association. “An absence of competition in health insurance markets is clearly not in the best economic interest of patients,” said Dr. Rohack of AMA. more ›

A DuPage County woman has been accused of attempting to defraud her employer of $25,000 by claiming her daughter and husband had died, the Daily Herald reports. more ›

So we know these videos are old, but they still make us laugh, especially when we need it. And this week, we needed the laugh around the Chicagoist office. This ad campaign, by Virginia's Trigon Blue Cross/Blue Shield, hits just the right combination of cute and funny for our tastes. Our favorite is below and there are two more after the jump. more ›

Cleveland Tyson of Buffalo Grove was awarded $56.25 million this week for his role as a whistleblower. Tyson used to work for Amerigroup, a Medicaid provider, and his testimony revealed Amerigroup was not insuring pregnant women and sick people—even though the government was paying them to do so. The government sued the company for over $300 million, and this week Amerigroup settled the suit for $225 million. more ›