All Kids Is All Right

By Amy Hart in News on Oct 26, 2005 2:43PM

Yesterday Governor Blagojevich addressed the Illinois General Assembly and urged them to pass his All Kids legislation, which would provide affordable health insurance to all children in the state.

Of the 250,000 children in Illinois who do not have health insurance, Blagojevich said:

…more often then not, the quarter-million kids in Illinois without health coverage are the children of working families, the ones whose parents form the backbone of this country. For these children, middle class means caught in the middle. It’s time for us to help. It’s time for us to reach out to those who are paying most of the taxes and doing most of the work and make government work for them. It’s time to help them make sure that their kids have the same chance at being healthy as every other kid.

Republicans and some analysts have attacked the plan, saying it will be too expensive and is just a reelection ploy by Blago that would bring about socialized healthcare… which they apparently fear would put Illinois on the fast track to becoming like (GASP!) Canada or (DOUBLE GASP!) Sweden, and we all know how messed up those countries are, right?

Democrats believe they can pay for the system by redesigning how the state handles Medicaid, and say that the health of children should not be turned into a political issue.

Blago’s proposal has received the backing of over 400 organizations, including the Illinois State Medical Society, the Illinois Hospital Association, and the non-profit healthcare advocacy group Families USA, which also touts the economic benefits the state would receive from All Kids.

Following Blago's address yesterday, a Senate panel approved All Kids along party lines, and a vote of the full Senate may come up this week.