Illinois wants to provide socialist medicine for children

CBS TV Chicago reports on creeping socialism:

Gov. Rod Blagojevich wants to revamp state health programs to cut expenses and use the savings to provide insurance for all Illinois children, including 250,000 who now lack any health benefits.

The Democrat plans to propose his "All Kids" program Thursday. It would target children in families that earn too little for private coverage but too much to qualify for existing state-funded programs.

Parents would be able to "buy" their children's insurance from the state, with premiums and copayments that would be much lower than private insurance policies.

The plan, which has the endorsement of Democratic legislative leaders, would make Illinois the first state to offer such universal coverage for children, Blagojevich said.

All this from a state that has the most underfunded public pension plan in the United States.