Facts About FamilyCare

Early enrollment numbers. The Illinois Department of Public Aid switched 9,500 families from spend-down status to FamilyCare on November 1. These families will receive health coverage at no cost to them (other than the general copays imposed on all Medicaid beneficiaries last year). As of late November the department had enrolled 1,000 additional families. This makes a total of 10,500 newly insured people due to FamilyCare. That’s great. It also means that there are about 18,000 more eligible families out there still to sign up. Keep them coming!

Noncitizens: Are they eligible? Undocumented people are not eligible for either KidCare or FamilyCare. Federal KidCare and Medicaid rules (enacted as part of the welfare reform law in 1996) require that documented (“legal”) immigrants go through a five-year waiting period before being eligible for federally funded coverage. Illinois (using state funds) covers legal immigrant children in KidCare with no waiting period. In FamilyCare, however, the adults will have to go through the five-year waiting period. The federal law requiring the waiting period for legal immigrants will be considered in Congress early next year when Congress addresses reauthorization of the welfare reform law. Proposals to repeal it will be in play, so watch for advocacy alerts from your sources of information on welfare reform.

Please note, however, that pregnant noncitizens—including the undocumented—are eligible for KidCare under the “Moms and Babies” category. This provision preexisted FamilyCare and will continue.

In summary, documented children are eligible for KidCare; undocumented children are ineligible for KidCare; and undocumented (nonpregnant) adults are ineligible for FamilyCare. Documented adults will not be eligible for FamilyCare until they have been in the United States for five years.—John Bouman