CARBONDALE - Retired television newscaster Dick Kay says he's "giving a voice" to millions of Illinoisans who don't have one when it comes to affordable health care.

The former NBC 5 Chicago political editor and host of Sunday morning show, "City Desk," has become a contract employee of Gov. Rod Blagojevich, advocating for the administration's plan to extend health benefits to citizens without them in a statewide campaign called "Governor Blagojevich's Drive for Healthcare."

Kay, 70, was in Carbondale Tuesday, the first of three stops he plans to make this week on the tour, talking with Hurst couple George and Sherry Martin, 59 and 60 respectively, about the troubles they face as an under-insured family.

The Martins are school bus drivers with Beck Bus Transportation Corp. in Carbondale. They are both part-time employees and don't qualify to receive benefits through the company. George, who served in the military during the Vietnam War, gets health coverage through the Veterans Administration. Sherry, however, is forced to go without.

Kay said the Martins represent the 1.4 million Illinoisans the Blagojevich administration estimates are not covered by health insurance.

A person devoid of proper health care is a subject near and dear to Kay's heart, he said.

"I've never worked in politics, but I grew up with a mother who probably never had health insurance in her life. My son, who is self-employed � doesn't have access to affordable health insurance," Kay said. "I joined with the governor just for health care and just to be a health care advocate."

Kay is being paid $50 an hour or $104,000 annually, according to a previous report from The Southern's Springfield Bureau, to stump for Blagojevich's "Illinois Covered" plan, the health care initiative the governor unveiled in his 2007 budget address.

The plan calls for extending coverage to uninsured citizens as well as reforming the existing insurance system. The initiative would be funded through a Gross Receipts Tax Blagojevich has proposed to levy on businesses that do more than $1 million in sales annually.

The tax is expected to bring $7 billion in new revenue to the state, according to figures recently mentioned by Illinois House Republican Leader Tom Cross. Critics say the cost of the tax will ultimately lead to higher prices on items consumers buy.

Part of Kay's job is to interview people like the Martins, getting them to tell about their plights and give nods to the governor's attempt to address the problem.

"I spent my lifetime telling stories; the governor said, 'I know you can tell the stories of people who have no voice,'" Kay said. "I wouldn't be out here if I didn't think it was the right thing to do."

As far as George Martin was concerned, Kay and the Blagojevich administration are on the right track.

Asked about the merits of "Illinois Covered," Martin said this:

"From what I've heard about it, it sounds real good. There's a lot of people who need health insurance they can't afford."

When pressed by Kay, the Martins said they'd be willing to pay a little more for goods and services if it means better health insurance coverage.

When asked by The Southern whether he thought the Gross Receipt Tax would hurt several, small local businesses that do more than $1 million of business a year, Martin said no.

"I don't think that the small businesses around here make that much," Martin said.

Carbondale Mayor Brad Cole has said there are about a dozen locally-owned businesses that would be negatively impacted by a Gross Receipts Tax.

caleb.hale@thesouthern.com

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