As of today, insurance companies are receiving an adjustment in the way health care is being done for the state of Illinois.

Currently, young adults are able to stay under their families health care plan until the age of 23. As of today it will be changed to 26.

Another change that has been made is the extension of how long young adults can be under their family policy.

Sen. Richard Durbin said the revised health care plan is providing basic coverage for preventive care. Which many believe is a step in reducing illness and reducing the cost of illness treatment in the later years.

There has been an independent appeals process added if there are disputes between the insured and the insurance coverage.

Children under the age of 19 cannot be denied coverage because of preexisting conditions with policy years beginning on or after September 23, 2010.

A pre-existing condition is a health problem that existed before you apply for a health insurance policy

Timothy Fraas, of Belgium, received a heart transplant over one year ago.

Fraas’ health care policy allows him to receive a $3 million cap from his health care plan.

“It may seem like a lot, but put the word ‘transplant’ before any procedure, $3 million is not a whole lot. In less than two years I have gone from using hardly any of my lifetime cap to less than a million dollars left,” said Fraas.

Fraas believes it is important to get rid of the lifetime cap because no one has any idea of the type of financial future that is in store for him or her.

Fraas’ monthly checkups cost him $16,000 with each visit. An annual visit costs him over $65,000. His pills cost $160 apiece and some $320 apiece.

“It could be you, your insurance policy– it may look like a lot but it’s not what you think,” said Fraas.

Jim Duffet, an executive director for the Campaign For Better Health Care, said today is a historical one for Illinoisans.

“I cant stress enough, we run a help line where we get thousands of people a year to call who are in need of access to health insurance and are also being denied access by the insurance company,” said Duffet.

“All health plans will be banned from robbing people from coverage because of an omission or incorrect information in their application,” said Durbin.

He said that all too often insurance companies go through application forms and declare they have failed to disclose everything that they should have or failed to disclose all the proper information, and then cancel their coverage.

It is usually this time that the client needs their insurance company the most, Durbin said.

The state of Illinois has more of these health insurance contract precisions than any other state in America.

Between 2001 and 2008 the insurance industry dropped 5,632 Illinoisans from the roles. This is almost three times the national average.

After today, this will be illegal for insurance companies.

altwaits@eiu.edu.