Make sure all kids enroll in 'All Kids'

Thanks to the All Kids health insurance program, 10-year-old Lisa is looking forward to a happy and healthy new year.

When Lisa's dad lost his job and his family's health insurance several months ago, he found two new jobs- both without benefits -- and Lisa could not get treatment for her asthma. Lisa's health worsened, her asthma attacks increased, and her family grew desperate. Fortunately, the family heard about All Kids, the new Illinois program that offers health coverage to every child in the state. With sliding scale premiums and co-payments, All Kids allows Lisa's parents to take their daughter to a doctor on a regular basis, and not the emergency room when crises occur.

Lisa is just one child. There are thousands like her in Cook and Lake counties. Thanks in large part to the support of state Sen. Susan Garrett and state Rep. Ruth Munson, Illinois was the first state in the nation to cover all children.

The noise of the current Springfield battles should not obscure the history of cooperation and leadership that produced and maintains the All Kids program, and enables hundreds of families in Cook and Lake Counties to get the care they need, when they need it.

This year, let's make sure children in Cook and Lake Counties and all across the state have a happy and healthy 2008, just like Lisa, by enrolling all uninsured children in All Kids. And let's remember to thank Sen. Susan Garrett and Rep. Ruth Munson and the other leaders who are responsible for this fine accomplishment.

John Bouman

President,

Sargent Shriver National Center on Poverty Law,

Chicago