Health
Our Policy Statement
United Way of Illinois will support public policy initiatives to identify and advance efforts that achieve the long term goal of improving people’s physical and mental health. To accomplish this goal, United Way will focus on:
- Access to affordable health services for children and low income adults
- Policies that support wellness and healthy lifestyles for children, youth and older adults
Health-Related Research
Robert Wood Johnson Foundation
Almost 28% of Illinois adults are obese, making the state the 23rd most obese in the nation. Another 36% of Illinois adults are overweight. The latest data comes via a report from the Trust for America's Health and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.
See the report, F as in Fat: How Obesity Threatens America's Future 2011, for more information about the increasing rate of adult obesity in Illinois and efforts to combat it.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture in January proposed new nutrition standards to make school meals healthier. More fruits, vegetables and whole grains would be part of meals served through the National School Lunch and School Breakfast programs. Calories and unhealthy fats would be reduced.
Dr. Risa Lavizzo-Mourey, president and CEO of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, called the proposal "an extraordinary opportunity to improve the health of the nearly 32 million children who eat at least one school meal every day."
Read Lavizzo-Mourey's commentary here.
The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation
Data compiled by Kaiser show:
- About 15% of Illinois residents are uninsured: 1.5 million are adults and 273,000 are children.
- Illinois covers 1.8 million people through Medicaid, with 1.1 million being children and 700,000 adults.
- About 6.9 million Illinois residents have health insurance through their employer, representing 55% of the state's population.
For more details, view the State Medicaid Fact Sheet.
According to Kaiser research, over half of uninsured adults do not have a regular source of health care. Those individuals are more than twice as likely to delay or forgo needed care, which can lead to serious health problems. As a result, the uninsured are more likely to be hospitalized for avoidable conditions. They also are less likely to receive preventive care.
Read more in the Kaiser fact sheet "The Uninsured and the Difference Health Insurance Makes."
Illinois Health Matters
The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act was signed into law in March 2010. While some components of the law already are in place, others will be phased in during the coming years.
In 2011:
- 1.8 million Medicare beneficiaries in Illinois will be eligible for free preventive care.
- Illinois will start to create a health benefits exchange for small businesses and individuals to purchase affordable health coverage.
Overall, here are key elements of the PPACA:
- Everyone will be able to buy coverage in 2014, even those with pre-existing conditions.
- Insurance companies will no longer be able to drop people when they get sick.
- Insurance companies will also be required to cover free preventive care.
- Small businesses will get tax credits to help secure coverage for their employees.
Visit illinoishealthmatters.org for more about health care reform.
Illinois Alliance to Prevent Obesity
Almost two-thirds of Illinois adults are overweight or obese. Among children, the state's obesity rate of 20% is fourth worst in the nation. Considering those statistics, the Illinois Alliance to Prevent Obesity developed a three-year road map reverse obesity trends.
Some of the goals include:
- Increasing access to retailers who serve and/or sell healthy and affordable food options.
- Promoting safe and active transportation.
- Promoting healthy and active lifestyles in workplaces.
See the road map for more information.
Institute for Health Research and Policy
School district wellness policies do not meet national recommendations for nutrition or physical activity, according to a 2010 report from the University of Illinois at Chicago institute.
Looking at the 2008-09 school year, researchers found:
- No district met all Institute of Medicine standards for competitive products, with guidelines for restricting sugar-sweetened beverages and sodium content of snacks especially weak.
- Physical education policies generally did not follow evidence-based guidelines for time spent in PE or recommendations for engaging students in moderate-to-vigorous physical activity.
- The vast majority of districts did not identify a source of funding to support implementation of wellness policy provisions, and very few had plans for evaluating implementation efforts or reporting on schools' compliance with the district wellness policy.