Springfield – The administration of Gov. JB Pritzker has significantly underestimated the cost and popularity of non-citizen immigrant health insurance programs, which cost $1.6 billion since the initiative began in 2020, according to an audit report released Wednesday.
Apart from inaccurate forecasts of program costs and number of enrollees, the audit has registered over 6,000 people in the programme listed as “undocumented” despite having a Social Security number, and nearly 700 people enrolled in the programme for those over the age of 65. Additionally, around 400 people were enrolled in the program, but they appeared to have been in the country long enough to qualify for Medicaid, a jointly funded federally.
A report from Illinois' auditor general Frank Mautino comes a week after Pretzker proposed to eliminate funding for a program that would provide Medicaid-style insurance coverage to people over the age of 65 who are in the country without legal permission or legally in the United States but not yet qualify for a green card. The cut, which is estimated to save $330 million, was part of Pretzker's plan to close the budget hole after locking in more than $3 billion.
The audit showed that the actual spending for the three years ended June 30, 2023 was $485 million in actual spending, particularly in the younger recipient program.
To announce another medical debt relief for Illinois residents at a news conference in Chicago on Wednesday, Pretzker did not respond directly when asked why the estimates his administration used in the program were so far away. Instead, he said some individuals continue to roll with the program before the state determines they are no longer eligible due to immigration, changes in employment status, or other factors.
Pritzker repeated his support for universal healthcare compensation in an unspecified form despite his proposal to abolish funds for reporting for people under the age of 65.
“The broader context is what people need to get health care,” Pretzker said.
As of December, there were 41,505 people enrolled in the program. One person is for people over 65 and one person under 65 years of age. About 80% of them were participating in a program for young immigrants, which Pretzker proposed to remove funds from July 1st.
Illinois initially provided Medicaid-style health care coverage to non-citizen immigrants age 65 and older in 2020 under a program called Health Benefits for Migrant Elderly People. The recipients of this group were eligible for the traditional health insurance program for the poor, jointly funded by the federal government.
The national healthcare initiative has been expanded twice and currently covers those over the age of 42. Balloon complicated budget negotiations two years before the program.
Together, the two programs do not extend to asylum seekers arriving in Chicago from the southern US border.
Two programs launched in Illinois have been suspended by the federal government during the Covid-19 pandemic with Medicaid rehearsals (annual checks to see if registrants are eligible for their benefits).
However, the cost of the programme has finally spiraled upwards, and this issue has held general meetings in recent years. In February 2023, Pretzker took steps to reduce enrollment in the program after managing estimates of initial costs from $220 million doses five times three months later. Ultimately, a little over $500 million was set as a side-off in the budget passed by Congress that spring.
Last year, the governor announced plans to cut as many as 6,000 medical recipients through two programs to save more money.
In the past, Pretzker has defended immigrant health care as a state effort to save more taxpayer money by providing this type of compensation to non-citizens by moving immigrant health care away from emergency rooms and hospitals. But hours after announcing last week's budget proposal, Pretzker explained how there were working-age people in the 42-64 program that could later find better jobs “with healthcare-related healthcare.”
“Yes, we're making sacrifices on the entire budget,” Pretzker said in the ceremonial office of the Capitol. “I'm sacrificing something that's important to me.”
Petrella was reported from Chicago. Tribune reporter Olivia Hollander contributed.
Original issue: February 26, 2025, 9:55am CST
