For my constituents with Medicare or Medicaid, please be aware you will be receiving new cards. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services are removing Social Security numbers from Medicare cards and replacing them with new identification numbers.

The new Medicare card will have a completely different and randomly assigned identifier that will be 11 characters long, containing a mix of numbers and uppercase letters. This is the Medicare Beneficiary Identifier (MBI). CMS is also removing the gender and signature line from the new Medicare card. The MBI is confidential like your SSN and should be protected as personal health information.

Each MBI is unique and randomly generated, and the characters are “non-intelligent,” which means they don’t have any hidden or special meaning.

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We are excited to announce that Grow Your Own Teachers is now accepting applications for our Chicago area program, with a deadline of September 15.

Grow Your Own is a teacher pipeline program established to increase teacher diversity in Illinois public schools. GYO provides extensive support for students pursuing a career in teaching, in exchange for a commitment to teach for 5 years in high-needs public schools.

Supports that make a difference:

    Financial support for tuition assistance, and when needed, emergency expenses

    Academic support, with an Academic Coordinator who works with students to keep them on track to graduate

    Test prep for the TAP, ACT or SAT, as well as tutoring and other support to master class subjects

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SPRINGFIELD – Access to law enforcement’s controversial gang databases would be limited under a measure from State Senator Patricia Van Pelt that passed out of the Senate today.

“For years, law enforcement has been using gang databases with little oversight to how they’re used and who has access to the information,” Van Pelt (D-Chicago) said. “This measure will ensure that database information can’t be used in background checks for employment, housing, licensing and education, which has been one of the biggest problems with the database.”

The use of gang databases to track individuals labeled as suspected gang members has been called into question in recent months after investigative reports found that hundreds of thousands of Chicagoans have been added to gang databases.

“Gang databases should be used to crack down on crime, not prevent an innocent person from getting a job or an apartment,” Van Pelt said. “This is a commonsense solution to a problem that never should’ve existed in the first place.”

Within the demographic of young black men 20-29 years of age, 53,418 (up to 89 percent of population) are in the Chicago Police Department's gang database.

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SPRINGFIELD – Senator Patricia Van Pelt (D-Chicago) issued the following statement in response to the Senate’s passage of a balanced budget:

“Tonight, I was proud to reject the funding cuts proposed by Gov. Rauner and instead vote for a responsibly balanced budget that increases funding for programs that help our most vulnerable residents and strengthen our communities.

“This budget increases funding for early childhood and K-12 education by more than $400 million, restores funding to important human service programs like Teen Reach, Redeploy Illinois and community-based violence prevention organizations, invests in life-saving public health initiatives like screening for breast cancer and lead poisoning and gives working families a better shot at sending their kids to college at an affordable price.

“By making responsible cuts to administrative spending, we were able to pass a budget that will help make our neighborhoods safer, keep our children off the streets and provide support for those who need it most.”

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