What is Medicaid?
Medicaid is all over the news these days… but what is it? Medicaid is a form of health insurance. It covers inpatient and outpatient visits to the hospital, annual exams and follow-ups, lab tests, x-rays, birth control, STI tests, prenatal care and childbirth, prescriptions, and more with no out-of-pocket costs for the person covered! States and the federal government work together to fund Medicaid. However, states are in charge of running the day-to-day operations of Medicaid in their state, so Medicaid may be called something different from state-to-state. For example, in Illinois you may have heard of HealthChoice Illinois, All Kids, or Moms and Babies— those programs are all Medicaid!
Who uses Medicaid?
Medicaid is widely used and covers a lot of people. In fact, 75% of doctors are accepting new Medicaid patients. This means that people using Medicaid can go to great doctors close to home without paying out of pocket!
Medicaid originally provided coverage to people with disabilities, pregnant people, kids, and parents and caretakers with incomes below a certain level set by each state. Now, states can cover adults without kids who make up to $21,597 a year, (or more for bigger families!). Coverage for these folks is often called Medicaid Expansion. Today, 1 in 5 Americans use Medicaid as their health insurance, making Medicaid a great program bringing no-cost health care to your friends, family members, neighbors, and maybe even you!
Medicaid Programs Overview
Let’s dig deeper into Illinois’ Medicaid programs:
Adult Medicaid: Adult Medicaid is full-scope coverage for people 19 years old or older who are U.S. citizens or on the pathway to citizenship, who make up to a certain yearly household income. Medicaid Expansion is part of Adult Medicaid.
Moms & Babies: This is full-scope health care coverage for Illinois residents of any immigration or citizenship status with qualifying household incomes who are pregnant or have been pregnant within the last 12 months, regardless of the pregnancy outcome (birth, pregnancy loss, abortion).
All Kids: This is full-scope coverage for Illinois residents with qualifying household incomes who are 18 years old or younger. Some families with kids enrolled in All Kids and higher household incomes may have to pay small co-pays for certain care.
HFS Family Planning Program: Medicaid also has some programs that cover a more limited number of services for people with a specific condition, or who make too much money to qualify for full Medicaid. The HFS Family Planning Program, or Medicaid for family planning, is a limited Medicaid program that Illinois has. With this coverage you can go to any doctor that accepts Medicaid and have your annual visit, birth control, Pap smear, PEP, and more covered, but it isn’t going to cover everything that full-scope Medicaid does. Take ICAN!s eligibility quiz to learn whether you might qualify for this program. It takes less than a minute!
How Do I Apply For Medicaid?
You can apply for Medicaid in one of four ways:
Online at abe.illinois.gov
By Phone at 1-800-843-6154
In person at a health center. Use ICAN!’s Provider Finder tool to an ICAN! Partner health center that can help you enroll for all these programs and offer birth control at free or low cost. Not seeing an ICAN! Health center near you? You can also find enrollment support at the Department of Human Services Family Community Resource Center (DHS FCRC).
By Faxing, mailing, or delivering a paper application to a DHS FCRC
Regardless of how you apply, you’ll be asked to answer questions about who you are, where you live, and how much money you and your immediate family members make. Before you apply, it’s helpful to know an address where you can get mail, names, birthdays, and, if applicable, Social Security numbers or Alien Registration Numbers for all the people in your household who you want to get coverage. You should also bring an ID with you, information about your household’s income like recent pay stubs, tax returns, or W-2s, and, if you’re applying for Adult Medicaid or the HFS Family Planning Program, proof of citizenship or immigration status like a birth certificate, passport, green card, or visa.
Looking for local help? Visit getcovered.illinois.gov to find a navigator near you!
How Can I Learn More?
ICAN! works to help people know where to go, who to trust, and that they can afford their care, including birth control. Advocating for protecting and expanding coverage and helping people enroll in full-coverage Medicaid and Medicaid programs like the HFS Family Planning Program is a big part of that work! If you have more questions about Medicaid programs or don’t know where to start, schedule a call or drop a message in our live chat to connect with a member of our team.
