Professional enrollment support is available for all of the benefit plans listed on this page. Send your question by e-mail or live online chat.   Most Liberal Eligibility Basic Health Insurance Core Health Insurance Value 24 Hour Accident Value Emergency Room Most Affordable Basic Health Insurance Secure Lite STM Secure Saver STM Value Med Insurance Long Term Major Medical Celticare Celtic Basic Health Insurance United Healthcare Dental Insurance Secure DentalOne UnitedHealthOne Dental & Vision Online Life Insurance Great Start Child Life Insurance Guarantee Trust term life Insurance International Term Life Simple whole life insurance

Illinois Affordable 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 American Health Shield Celtic Insurance Secure STM Simple STM Intermediate Term Inbound Immigrant Secure 12x3 STM Supplemental Insurance Smart Accident Insurance Value Access Guarantee 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 Benicard Careington PPO Discount Plans Drug Card America Essential Dental Solutions Rx Pay Card See International Coverage and Travel Insurance Listings

Consumer Insurance Issues

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.