•March 2, 2016•

According to a recent report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS), Illinois was among eight states with statistically significant coverage gains among 18-64 year old residents. Between 2013 and 2015, the rate of uninsured among 18-64 year old Illinois residents decreased from 17.8% to the current rate of 10.6%. This 7.2% drop is one of the largest in the nation.

“This is a significant achievement in the state of Illinois’ coverage efforts, but more importantly this success presents a tremendous opportunity to continue to improve health outcomes and to lower the cost of health care delivery” said DOI Acting Director Anne Melissa Dowling. “We need to seize this opportunity to continue to engage and educate these newly covered populations about the benefits of coverage and how to effectively engage with the health system.”

More than one million Illinois residents have obtained health insurance coverage through the efforts of Get Covered Illinois (GCI) and the Illinois Department of Insurance (DOI).     Login or Subscribe to read the rest of this story.