Archbishop Cupich joins in celebration of reauthorization of ‘All Kids’ program

Archbishop Cupich joined state legislators and community activists at St. Ignatius College Prep Aug. 5 for a celebration of the reauthorization of the Covering All Kids Health Insurance program

“Today I want to reaffirm, on behalf of all of the bishops of Illinois our commitment to the support of the legislation that was passed and thank the governor for signing it. But also all of our senators and representatives who shepherded this bill through,” the archbishop said.

The Covering All Kids Health Insurance Act — commonly known as All Kids — was approved by state lawmakers in 2006, with a sunset date of July 1, 2016. The program provides health insurance to approximately 41,000 children of low- to middle-income families not covered by Medicaid or the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP). Gov. Bruce Rauner recently signed House Bill 5736, which extends the deadline of the program to Oct. 1, 2019.

Archbishop Cupich offered his public support of the extension as did the Catholic Conference of Illinois – the state lobbying arm of the Illinois bishops.

“The Catholic Church’s commitment to health care has a much longer history than this past decade. This is because we consider health care a basic human right where one of our core beliefs is that people should have access to affordable health care in order to live a full life,” the archbishop said at the celebration. “We take our inspiration from the ministry of Jesus who made healing the sick central ”

Families eligible for All Kids must have an income from 210 percent through 318 percent of the federal poverty level. Parents must pay monthly premiums of $40 for one child, and $80 for two or more children. Co-pays for doctor visits and prescriptions are also required. The program is also open to undocumented children residing in Illinois.

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Contributing to this story was The Catholic Conference of Illinois