Illinois All Kids: Recruiting Victims

by Sam Pierce

Nearly two weeks ago my wife and I welcomed another child to the world. Perhaps I should have apologized to her since at the time of her conception (which Barack Obama might refer to as “a mistake” and of course our little angel would be a “punishment”) I couldn’t imagine that the electorate could sink so far as to give us the election results from November… but I still hold some hope that she’ll grow up and know the liberty that Americans should be able to expect.

A couple of days ago my wife said “listen to this” and proceeded to tell me about an alarming letter we had just received from the hospital at which we had welcomed our bundle of joy. The letter was to inform us that we may be eligible for an All Kids Insurance Rebate of up to $75 a month! Whoo hoo! Illinois state government’s largess no longer needs to be sought, it now seeks.

Libiots love to mislead about the necessity of ever-expanding government programs to deal with the tragedy of all the children that don’t have insurance. How often do they highlight the fact that their programs are intended to encompass as many dependents as possible, not just the children that don’t have insurance? At least in Illinois, the taxpayers’ cup overflows so much that the state (and I believe this might have been the brain child of hair helmet, senate seat salesman Rod Blagojevich) wants to have its hands in providing for those that do have insurance!

From the alarming letter:

If you carry insurance privately or through your employer, you may be eligible for an All Kids Insurance Rebate up to $75 per covered household member for health insurance premiums paid.

All Kids is the State of Illinois health insurance program that provides Illinois families with affordable and comprehensive health care for children, regardless of family income, immigration status, or medical condition. Higher income families may have co-pays and premiums based on reported family income.

It is good to know that illegal aliens are not being shut out by this glorious bit of wealth redistribution. The “reported family income” reminds me of an all too  common scenario from my younger days. While I was employed as a CNA at a local hospital, one of my co-workers spoke openly of the expensive dolls she collected and the amenities of her husband’s custom conversion van. So what, right? She was a part time employee by choice and her children were covered by Medicaid thanks to her husband being paid “under the table.” “Reported income” indeed.

Given the irresponsible “Robin Hood” mindset that was displayed by the FFT (Feckless Fifty Two percent) in November, I suppose that programs such as Illinois All Kids will only continue to grow. It is apparently common understanding that it is the government-forced responsibility of the gainfully employed to subsidize the personal lives of the unemployed and the less gainfully employed (not to mention the under-the-table employed.) I suppose it is acceptable to complain about unemployment while inviting illegal aliens in to undermine the state’s citizen workforce because, after all illegal aliens can be government dependents too.

I wonder how many people get this type of letter and think that the government is trying to help them. How many of those that apply for these rebates stop to think about from where the money comes? It doesn’t really matter if you subscribe to the Obama apologist thought process that government can take care of everything without being intrusive and even if it is intrusive, it intrudes more on the evil bastards that work for a living than on the innocent victims that welcome its assistance.

Cross-posted from: Malignant Liberal Idiocy

Comments

[spintreebob]

The cup is half full, half empty.

The state has paid the Jesse Jacksons and Sister Ediths for aggressive outreach to the underserved communities. The pastor preaches from the pulpit that a person is not a good Catholic and not a good parent unless they sign up for kidcare/allcare (whatever it is called this week). After mass the nuns and deacons and Sister Edith's staff do everything possible to block the exits and prevent anyone from leaving without signing up.

Yet the good Catholics, citizens, legal immigrants and illegal alike are seen to escape the pressure and not sign up and retain their dignity.

For the most part, the outreach programs of Jesse Jackson and Sister Edith and the Catholic Archdiocese have been expensive failures.

Kidcare is a familiar pattern of government escalation we see in seatbelts and hundreds of other interferences in our lives.

First the program is voluntary. Those who need the program (per the elite experts) do not sign up.

So expensive outreach programs are funded to sign people up. Those also fail.

So the program is expanded to cover more people. That also fails.

So gradually the program is made mandatory or conditional upon other actions of the government.

The elite experts know what is best for us. And they'll bully us into the program one way or the other.

[jorod]

We are bankrupt... but we can still buy votes...!!

[jb]

Is there really bullying here? Are you being forced to be covered by this plan?

There isn't really a review here at all about the program just you being mad at some supposed illegal immigrant for frivolously spending her and her family's money on dolls and cars. I know plenty of upper middle class people who do the exact same thing. Buying cars they can't afford, or flat screen TV's or $500 cellphones.

If you don't agree with the program or don't want to take advantage of it, don't. But it's unfair to generalize and assume that all low-income people are working jobs where they get paid under the table and their children don't deserve affordable health care.

I also don't understand what's so alarming about getting a letter that says you can get a credit from the state to go towards insurance premiums you already paid. You paid into the kitty too. Take your share if it's offered to you or quit complaining.

[Sam Pierce]

jb,

Or I could complain about the state government's redistributive policies and methods of buying political support by increasing the number of its dependents.

The lady I worked with was not an illegal immigrant, she was a natural born citizen who, like many patients of ours gamed the system.

If you wish, you could refrrain from reading my complaints and that might satisfy your "quit complaining" request.

[Missy Westbury]

I'm so glad that you pointed out the horrors of making sure children have proper medical care. What's next - providing health care to old people? The Disabled? God, we'll know this country's really going to hell when we start handing out medical care for free to the blind and deaf!

Glad to know there are real Christians like yourself out there telling us the truth about these horrific Illinois programs. I'm just happy to know that when Jesus healed the sick, he was sure to check their insurance cards first.

[Manford]

Pull your head out of your butt, your view of the world is skewed. I am sorry you must live in the world you do, because it is certainly not an accurate one, nor a happy one.

[Sam Pierce]

Merry Christmas, Manford!

[Bookworm]

I wouldn't get bent out of shape about merely being INFORMED that a particular program MAY be available to you IF you qualify. There was a time when I was in a situation where my child needed this coverage (she had to go to the hospital when I was between jobs and had no insurance), and if I hadn't been informed by a kindly hospital social worker that I could still apply for such coverage for her, we'd be paying off her medical bills until she's 50.

However, I was very happy when I was finally able to take her OFF All Kids/Medicaid since it was very difficult to find providers who would accept her. It's one thing to use it as a temporary, it's-better-than-nothing measure when you truly cannot afford or have no access to private insurance; it's quite another for people who CAN afford private coverage to use it simply because it's cheaper to them.

All that being said.... the vast "expansion" of programs like FamilyCare (All Kids coverage for parents) didn't go over nearly as well as Blago and his minions had hoped. I believe that in the end, only about 4,000 people signed up for the FamilyCare expansion that was done against the will of JCAR; Blago had predicted something like 150,000 people would.

[A new father]

Please do not generalize programs like All Kids with being used by the illegals in the country. My wife and I are natural-born citizens who are expecting twins in a few months. Because the cost of daycare completely wipes out her salary, she has to quit her job, and we are now having to look at options like this. My current health-care provider would have me pay nearly 10% of my salary to cover my kids' insurance. This will completely wipe out what little extra we had after paying things like mortgage, school loans, and of course, putting food on the table for my family. All Kids may very well be our only hope if we want to start the twins' college fund or handle those unexpected expenses that come up.

Consider this. Very few doctors actually take All Kids insurance. The hospital we plan to deliver at does not accept it, and thus if the kids are born early and have to stay for any appreciable time, they will not be covered and we will have to pay the full out-of-pocket bill, which we also cannot afford. So you see, you get what you pay for.

[Sam Pierce]

New Father,

Did you read the post or just the title and the phrase "illegal aliens"? It is about the socialist state offering to grow the Democrat voting base by offering it to those who already have health insurance!

Congratulations on your twins... if your story is real. I must say that your story sounds like a commercial for the need of socialized medicine.

Assuming the twins are real, were they an accident or did you and your wife intend to be blessed with children? If they were planned, did you consciously decide to have the taxpaying citizens share the responsibility for their support? Why do you feel strangers should be responsible for the support of your children? Have you exercised all other options, such as finding a second job or having your wife work part-time? How about cell phones and cable TV? Surely you won't have those luxuries if you can't afford health insurance.

I know, I know, it is mean to expect parents to accept responsibility ar at least admit that they are pawning it off on taxpayers.