FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
February 10, 2006

Contact
Diana Yates, Communications Coordinator
(217) 531-4275

Salud Pública Registrará Niños Sin Aseguranza Médica En el Programa del Estado “All Kids,” Un Programa de Aseguranza Médica

Padres que Tienen Niños Sin Aseguranza Médica Pueden Pre-registrar Sus Niños Ahora

Padres con trabajo o sin trabajo que no tienen aseguranza médica para sus niños pueden pre-registrar para el programa del estado de Illinois “All Kids”, un programa de aseguranza médica para niños sin aseguranza que empezará el primero de Julio, 2006.   Personal de Salud Pública ya están pre-registrando familias para este programa y animan a cualquier persona con un niño sin aseguranza a sacar una cita para preregistar para este programa.

Padres de niños que ya están registrados para el programa KidCare estarán registrados automaticamente en All Kids. No hay que reaplicar. 

Además de seguir cubriendo niños ya registrados en KidCare, All Kids ofrecerá aseguranza médica gratis o a bajo costo para los niños que no tienen aseguranza médica y a los niños que antes no eran eligibles a causa de su estado ciudadanía. Según los oficiales de salud del estado, AllKids costará mucho menos para la mayoría de familias que la aseguranza médica privada.  Por ejemplo, una familia de cuatro que gana $50,000 al año pagará $40 al mes por cada niño, más un co-pago de $10 por cada visita al doctor.

El costo total para cada familia variará según sus ingresos.  Los que tienen bajos ingresos no pagarán nada al mes ni pagaran co-pagos por las visitas médicas, mientras los que tienen ingresos más altos pagarán entre $15 a $300 al mes por cada niño y un co-pago de entre $100 cada año por la familia hasta $5,000 cada año por cada niño.  (Las familias con ingresos muy altos pagarán $300 al mes por cada niño y no hay un limite al año para sus co-pagos)

Todos los servicios disponibles ahora a niños con KidCare seguirán siendo disponibles bajo el programa AllKids, menos que transporte médico no de emergencia. El programa incluirá beneficios para: servicios de doctor, cuidado en clínicas de salud y en hospitales, medicamentos recetados, cuidado dental, cuidado visual, pruebas laboratorias, radiografías, planeo familiar y anticonceptivos, y tratamientos para abuso de alcohol o drogas, cuidado psiquiátrico y de salud mental, terápia física y ocupacional, diálysis de   los riñones, y muchos otros servicios médicos y de salud mental.

En pre-registrar en el Districto de Salud Pública asegurará que familias eligibles estarán registradas en el programa a tiempo para el empiezo el primero de julio.  Para sacar una cita para pre-registrar a su niño, por favor llame al departamento de Mantenemiento de Salud Maternal y Niños en Salud Pública (217) 531-4306.

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Download 2006-02-06-All-Kids-Espanol-PR

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
February 7, 2006

Contact
Diana Yates, Communications Coordinator
(217) 531-4275

Public Health to Enroll Uninsured Children In the State’s “All Kids” Health Insurance Program

Parents Who Lack Health Insurance May Pre-Register Their Kids Now

         Employed or unemployed parents who lack health insurance for their children may pre-register for the state of Illinois’ “All Kids” program, a health insurance plan for uninsured children that will begin July 1, 2006. Public Health staff are already preregistering families for this program, and encourage anyone with an uninsured child to schedule an appointment to pre-register for the plan.

         Parents of children who are already enrolled in the KidCare program will automatically be enrolled in All Kids. They do not need to reapply. 

         In addition to continuing coverage to children currently enrolled in KidCare, All Kids will offer free or low-cost health insurance to children who currently lack health insurance and to those who were previously ineligible due to their citizenship status. According to state health officials, All Kids will cost most families a lot less than private health insurance. For example, a family of four that earns $50,000 per year will pay $40 per month for each child, plus a $10 co-pay for each doctor visit.

         Total costs for each family will vary by income. The lowest-income families will pay no monthly premiums and make no co-payments, while those with higher incomes will pay monthly premiums of $15 to $300 per child and yearly co-payments ranging from $100 per family to $5,000 per child. (The highest income families will pay a monthly premium of $300 per child and will have no cap on their yearly co-payments.)

         All services currently available to children on KidCare will be offered under the All Kids program, except for non-emergency medical transportation. The plan will include benefits for: doctor services, care at health clinics and hospitals, prescription drugs, dental care, vision care, laboratory tests and x-rays, family planning and birth control, alcohol and substance abuse treatment, psychiatric and mental health care, physical and occupational therapy, kidney dialysis and a host of other medical and behavioral health services.

         Pre-registration at the Public Health District will ensure that eligible families will be enrolled in the program in time for the July 1 start date. To make an appointment to pre-register your child, please call the Public Health Division of Maternal & Child Health Management, at (217) 531-4306.

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Download 2006-02-06-All-Kids-Pre-reg-PR

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
February 3, 2006

Contact
Julie Pryde, Director Division of Infectious Disease Prevention & Management
(217) 202-0657

Diana Yates, Communications Coordinator
(217) 531-4275

Champaign-Urbana Public Health District Joins Nationwide Response to AIDS Crisis Among African Americans

HIV Counseling and Testing Available at Two Local Sites

Urbana, February 1, 2006 – On February 7, 2006, black American leaders and organizations of Champaign-Urbana will respond to the impact of HIV and AIDS in the city’s African American communities in the sixth annual observance of National Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day (NBHAAD). On that day, Public Health’s Wellness on Wheels Mobile Health Unit will offer HIV counseling and testing from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Restoration Urban Ministries in Champaign. This event is meant to encourage Champaign County residents to get educated, get tested, get treated and get involved with HIV/AIDS as it continues to devastate black communities.

“Seventy-two African-Americans are infected with HIV every day,” said Julie Pryde, Director of Public Health’s Division of Infectious Disease Prevention & Management.  “African-Americans make up approximately 13 percent of the population of the United States, yet almost half of the total AIDS cases reported in this country are among members of the black community.”

In 2003, more African Americans were reported to have HIV/AIDS than any other racial or ethnic group.  In Illinois in 2003, 52% percent of people diagnosed with HIV/AIDS were black. Since 1981, more than 30,000 Illinoisans have been diagnosed with acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). Of that figure, about 53 percent have died. The number of Illinois cases is the sixth highest total in the U.S., trailing New York, California, Florida, Texas and New Jersey.

Champaign-Urbana is among the more than 100 cities across the U.S. that will sponsor programs on February 7 to call attention to the problem and seek solutions to halt the epidemic.  

Initiatives planned in recognition of National Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day in Champaign-Urbana include:

• National Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day – TESTING EVENT

Location:    Restoration Urban Ministries

WOWee Mobile Testing Unit

1213 Parkland Court

Champaign, IL 61821

Time:        10 a.m. – 2 p.m.

This event will include HIV prevention information and materials. All HIV testing is done with the Orasure oral test free of charge.

• HIV COUNSELING & TESTING/ SEXUALLY TRANSMITTED DISEASE

(STD) CLINIC will also be available at the Champaign-Urbana Public Health District Main Building, 710 N Neil St., Champaign, from 1-5 p.m. Services include HIV/STD testing, hepatitis vaccination and safer sex information and materials.

• HIV COUNSELING & TESTING services will be provided by Public Health in collaboration with the Delta Sigma Theta Sorority and Community Health Improvement Center (CHIC) Richland Community College in Decatur, from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. This event is also part of Brothers and Sisters United Against HIV/AIDS, a statewide initiative targeting African Americans for HIV information and testing. (basuah.org)

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Download 2006-02-03-Black-AIDS-Aware-PR