Family health insurance program starts Sunday

December 29, 2005





SPRINGFIELD -- An additional 56,000 low-income families will be eligible for state-sponsored health insurance starting Sunday.



An expansion in the FamilyCare program raises the qualifying income limit to 185 percent of the federal poverty level, or about $36,000 for a family of four.



''When parents are healthy, they're better able to deal with the challenges of raising their children, and are more productive at work,'' Gov. Rod Blagojevich, who has made health care for the poor a priority of his administration, said in a prepared statement.



Children of low-income working parents also are eligible for state health care through the KidCare program, which is open to families making up to 200 percent of the federal poverty level.