NU Online News Service, May 21, 2004, 5:38 p.m. EDT – Illinois might start a health insurance purchasing pool for small employers.[@@]
The state's House and Senate have voted unanimously to approve a health pool study bill, H.B. 4778.
H.B. 4778 calls for the board that runs the state's Comprehensive Health Insurance Plan to study the feasibility of setting up a health insurance pool for employers with between 1 and 50 employees.
Illinois set up the Comprehensive Health Insurance Plan to provide health coverage for pregnant women and for other state residents who have trouble buying private health coverage because they now have or once had serious health problems.
If H.B. 4778 is signed into law, the Comprehensive Health Insurance Plan board will have to analyze other states' experience in establishing small employer health insurance pools.
