Expanding Medicaid Could Help 13,000 Illinois Vets

More than 40,000 uninsured military veterans in Illinois could have new access to coverage under the national health overhaul law.

That's according to a new online tool from the Chicago group Health and Disability Advocates. The group plans to launch the Visualizing Health Care Reform website publicly Friday and allowed The Associated Press to review it a day early.

The site uses U.S. Census data and is searchable by county and region. It shows the age, gender, race and veteran status of uninsured Illinois residents and how they could gain coverage.

About one-third of uninsured Illinois veterans have incomes so low that they'll be newly eligible for Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act. These vets may remain uninsured unless Illinois lawmakers approve the Medicaid expansion.