Personal professional enrollment support is available for all of the benefit plans listed on this page. Send your question by e-mail for fast OnlineAdviser response. Limited telephone support (800) 609-0683. Office hours posted daily on Twitter @FreedomBenefits   Most Liberal Eligibility Basic Health Insurance - the least expensive plan in the exchange with the lowest level health benefits Core Health Insurance - the nation's most popular defined benefit health plans with guaranteed acceptance from US Fire Insurance Company Value 24 Hour Accident - up to $10,000 of supplemental health insurance coverage for emergency treatment of injuries at a cost of about $2 per day. Can be used as a stand-alone coverage or added to other insurance. Value Emergency Room - add $1,000 additional emergency room coverage for $1 per day for the whole family Most Affordable Basic Health Insurance - the least expensive plan in the exchange with the lowest level health benefits Secure Lite STM - the lowest priced major medical insurance for 1 to 12 months Secure Saver STM - $2 million maximum coverage for 1-12 months at an ultra-low rate Value Med Insurance - 3 question simple medical eligibility and immediate approval for supplemental doctor and hospital benefits Long Term Major Medical Celticare - well-known renewable individual major medical insurance for discriminating healthy applicants Celtic Basic Health Insurance - a trim version of Celticare at a lower price UnitedHealthcare - Golden Rule Insurance, a member of America's largest health plan Dental Insurance Secure DentalOne - one lifetime deductible of $100 and then up to $1,250 per year coverage UnitedHealthOne Dental & Vision - national PPO network of more than 73,000 providers Online Life Insurance Great Start Child Life Insurance - inexpensive permanent insurance that can be gifted by parents and grandparents Guarantee Trust term life Insurance - fast, easy and inexpensive online term insurance coverage up to $250,000 International Term Life - up to $2 million coverage issued by Lloyds online specifically for those who spend time outside of the US Simple whole life insurance - the fastest way to get affordable permanent coverage up to $50,000. Online underwriting, no exam. Smart term life insurance - up to $500,000 coverage directly online without an exam or blood test QuoteIntelligence Term life insurance - find the lowest rates, compare features & eligibility requirements and then apply online with the best insurance companies in less than 30 seconds.

Illinois health insurance exchange Illinois residents have a choice of more than 15 commercial health insurance companies that issue individual medical insurance and 53 companies that issue small group insurance as well as state-sponsored health plans for residents with pre-existing medical conditions called the Illinois Comprehensive Health Insurance Plan (ICHIP). These standard policies may be more expensive than some residents can afford. This Web page lists some of the most popular low cost commercial health insurance plans and related benefits. All of these policies offer secure online enrollment and professional OnlineAdviser personal enrollment support. Please note that while many of these choices could be included in more than one of the suggested usage categories, each plan is listed only once for the sake of brevity. Your enrollment adviser is available to discuss suitability of any plan for your specific situation. Illinois insurance & benefit news Illinois had the 19th highest health insurance costs of all states in 2008 with an average family premium of $12,603 per year. (The average annual premium for a U.S. family covered under an employer-sponsored health plan in 2008 was $12,298 according to The Commonwealth Fund report. The overall quality of health care ranked 42nd out of the 51 states (including DC). Illinois regulates the benefits required for both individual major medical and group health insurance plans, known as "mandated benefits". Short Term Insurance Celtic Insurance - competitive rates from a well-known insurer Markel Smart STM - popular and affordable short term major medical insurance with fast online approval Secure STM - along with its 12 month and 36 month options, this may be the highest quality short term coverage Intermediate Term Inbound Immigrant - up to five years of liberal health insurance coverage after immigration including maternity coverage, emergency and other essential benefits Supplemental Insurance Smart Accident Insurance - supplemental coverage for emergency treatment of accidents and injuries for as little as $20 per month. Can be used as a stand-alone accident plan or to increase other insurance benefits. Value Access Guarantee - everyone qualifies for this plan that pays in addition to any other insurance Illinois Insurance Law The Illinois Department of Insurance Web site contains help sections for each type of insurance including a section on financially assisted health plans and Medicaid. The Web site has not yet developed resources to help individuals find commercial low cost health plans like mini-med or core coverage, specific illness policies, supplemental insurance and basic health insurance. The state insurance department can be reached by telephone at (877) 527-9431 or by mail at 320 West Washington Street, Springfield IL 62767. The state children's health insurance plan (CHIP) Web site is Illinois All Kids. Non-insurance Discount Plans Careington PPO Discount Plans - the nation's leading network PPO discount provider allows a no-risk trial of any discount plan for only a $20 processing fee Drug Card America - a free prescription drug card that an be used nationwide Essential Dental Solutions - simple, inexpensive, no waiting period, up to $500 treatment per year Rx Pay Card - $10, $20, or $30 payments for hundreds of popular prescriptions. See International Coverage and Travel Insurance Listings

Illinois Insurance News

2/12/2011 With dozens of health plans choices available online offering a wide range of pricing and benefits, how do you find the best combination of price and benefits? Celtic Insurance realizes that the choices can be overwhelming; the company offers more than 40 possible health plan designs in many parts of the United States. A new feature called "Help Me Choose" lets users easily and quickly select the benefits they value most and narrows the list down to a few of the best choices. No personal information is required other than zip code and date of birth.

1/30/2011 Patients with health insurance and a credit card now have access to VIP treatment when care is needed at a hospital emergency room. Ingalls Family Care Centers in Flossmoor, Tinley Park, and Calumet City joined the growing list of hospitals that allows patients to use InQuickER, a reservation system that books appointments and reduces waiting time in the emergency room. The reservation system makes check-in easier by recording your insurance and payment information in advance. The service costs $15 to $25. Of course the nature unpredictable medical emergencies mean that the service cannot absolutely guarantee that you'll be seen immediately at your appointment time, but you get a full refund if not treated within 15 minutes after arrival. The InQuickER service works in conjunction with any of the private health insurance plans listed here at FreedomBenefits.net but is not available to uninsured patients.

1/19/2011 Child-only health insurance for children with significant medical problems will be available through an open enrollment period mandated by federal state law during the months of January and July. All children, regardless of medical condition, continue to be eligible for insurance when applying as a dependent on a parent’s policy and healthy children are eligible for child-only insurance at any time. When applying for child-only insurance for more than one child, make a separate application for each child.

12/16/2010 Illinois Department of Insurance officials met representatives of 44 other states and numerous employees of the federal Health and Human Services Department in Washington DC this week for a two-day working meeting to discuss the next steps in establish a government-run health insurance exchange under the American Health Benefit Exchange Model Act. Their attendance at this meeting was paid for by a $1 million federal grant awarded by HHS in September to the state for research how to set up an insurance exchange. Two states (Alaska and Minnesota) declined to participate, saying that it was a waste of taxpayer money. Four other states (not identified in press reports) that received federal grants did not send representatives to the meeting. Attendees included representatives of 16 states that are suing the federal government in an attempt to overturn the federal health reform law; specifically the requirement that forces individuals to buy health insurance on the insurance exchange or pay a hefty tax fine.

In its initial federal grant request for the insurance exchange project, Illinois said that it would: 1) Conduct comprehensive review of the status of health coverage in Illinois, 2) Develop structure and timeline for implementation of an Exchange that follows recommendations of Health Reform Implementation Council, 3) Assess resources needed for the implementation of an Exchange, 4) Confer with State agencies about Exchange infrastructure, 5) Involve stakeholders to ensure transparency, 6) Draft legislation that will enable an Exchange, and 7) Perform strategic planning on the operational, financial, technical requirements to sustain an Exchange.

The meeting reportedly did not address the role of the commercial health insurance exchanges on the implementation of new competing government systems. The model act does not address inter-state insurance exchange proposals nor insurance sales across state lines. Federal officials admitted that they may not be able to provide further guidance until 2012. Meanwhile, most states are motivated to continue to meet requirements to obtain additional funding promised by the federal government for the establishment of insurance exchange by 2014. Freedom Benefits has previously voiced the opinion that the huge amount of money being spent to set up alternate insurance sales system technologies could be better used providing health benefits to the public. We proposed on the Universal Health Insurance blog that adequate commercial insurance sales systems are already in place that could be modified in a public/private partnership to make health insurance more affordable.

5/14/2010 Diabetes Coverage: A new resource to help find health insurance for diabetics in Illinois is now available at Freedom Benefits.

5/11/2010 Illinois Auditor General's Office released a shocking report about the "AllKids" CHIP health plan. Among the findings: 70% of last year's payments were for children of illegal immigrants and many claims paid were not legitimate. HFS director pledges to tighten up eligibility and internal accountability of the health plan. When combined with other recent news, we expect this will contribute to a greater need for low cost basic commercial health insurance for low income families in Illinois.

4/15/2010 Illinois Comprehensive Health Insurance Plan (CHIP) has decided not to participate in the temporary high-risk pool program but to establish a new state high risk pool for those persons who have not previously had insurance coverage for six months and have a pre-existing condition. Those rates will be announced in the near future but are expected to be significantly higher than other insurance options. Recently passed federal health care reforms gives the state an option to elect this course of action even though the likely result is a reduction in the number of people who will opt to purchase insurance. Illinois residents with pre-existing conditions will continue to be eligible for commercial health insurance (like those listed under "Most liberal eligibility" section above but these plans may place a waiting period or limitation on coverage for pre-existing conditions. This type of limited benefit coverage may be the best temporary solution for those who are unable to afford full medical coverage.

11/12/2009 A new law creates a uniform small-employer group health status questionnaire and an individual health statement for use on January 1, 2011 and an orthotics and prosthetics mandate now applies to health carriers and HMOs for policies amended, delivered, issued, or renewed six months after the effective date of the amendatory act.