State Expands Veterans Health Care Program

Rockford, IL- Veterans returning home from overseas don`t always qualify for federal health care, but new changes to the state`s health care program for veterans is helping fill that gap. Under the new Veteran`s Care program, many Illinois veterans coming back from battle are not getting the health care benefits they deserve. That`s according to the state`s new Acting Director of Veteran`s Affairs and Iraq war veteran, Tammy Duckworth. "A lot of people were disqualified right off the top. You had to go 6 months without health insurance before you could qualify," says Duckworth. "So that`s when I said to the governor maybe we need to change this." Over the past few months, Duckworth has collaborated with Illinois lawmakers to expand the programs insurance eligibility. The program now makes coverage available to veterans immediately after serving overseas as well as increases the income level to cover more veterans. Tuesday afternoon Duckworth explained the new changes to community leaders, veteran`s organizations, and medical providers. "These kinds of things are something that someone coming home that doesn`t have a job, that doesn`t have a monthly income and they meet those criteria. They need that," says Ellis Boughton, a Vietnam veteran and President of the Carroll County Veterans Assistance Commission. While Boughton says he isn`t in need of the health coverage, officials say there are over 9000 veterans in Illinois that are. Many of whom are just returning from Iraq and Afghanistan and don`t know what benefits are available to them. "Many come home and are wondering what medical benefits do I have now that I`m not in the military. What do I do," says Boughton. "They don`t know who to stand up to. They don`t know that if somebody tells them no sometimes that just means you have to ask somebody else. They don`t know that you have to stand up and fight for something you believe in a lot of times in a bureacracy," says Duckworth. Since the program began on September 1st, the program has enrolled only 33 veterans. Duckworth says she hopes with the new changes, more veterans will be able to take advantage of the benefits the program offers. In order to qualify for the program, a veteran must be between 19 and 64 -years-old and ineligible for other health care programs. In addition, a veteran must also have not been dishonorably discharged from service and have an income within the approved range.