Ballooning cost of insuring undocumented immigrants complicating state budget negotiations [Chicago Tribune]
The
Just three months later, that estimate has grown fivefold, swelling to
At the same time, revenue flowing to the state appears to be slowing, putting further pressure on Pritzker and the Democratic-controlled legislature as they try to assemble a spending plan that continues the financial progress made during the past four years. The General Assembly’s spring session is scheduled to adjourn
Even as enrollment has far outstripped expectations, some Democratic lawmakers are pushing to further expand coverage, opening the program to people 19 and older, which the Pritzker administration estimates would cost an additional
The financial pressure is exposing tensions between Democrats’ open-arms stance on immigration and the limited resources available in a state that has only recently begun to stabilize its chronically shaky finances.
Advocates who’ve backed the program and are seeking further expansion question the accuracy of the state’s cost estimates and are pushing back on what they see as anti-immigrant sentiment, particularly among Republican lawmakers.
Pritzker, who has signed the health care program expansions into law and trumpeted them in news releases, now appears to be distancing himself from the effort, which a spokeswoman described as “a legislative initiative that relied on independent outside cost projections.”
“Every balanced budget that has passed is negotiated with the
With an estimated surplus of
What’s more, the legislature’s bipartisan forecasting commission just lowered its revenue estimate for the current year, essentially erasing a projected budget surplus, after tax receipts dropped substantially in April, compared with the same month last year.
While the change brings the legislative commission’s forecast in line with Pritzker’s more conservative estimate and doesn’t affect projections for next year, the administration nevertheless is urging lawmakers to be judicious with spending proposals.
“I would simply encourage caution,”
During a Wednesday budget hearing for the
The program also is running over budget in the current year, with the total tab now expected to be about
However, the department expects to be able to absorb the cost due to lower-than-expected spending in other areas,
Rose said the projected current year cost overrun would be enough to cover increased funding for services for intellectually and developmentally disabled residents and put the state in compliance with a federal consent decree. Community service providers have repeatedly requested such funding in recent years, but
The governor’s office wouldn’t say how it proposes to address the exploding costs of the immigrant health care program, or whether options such as closing enrollment in the program or raising taxes to pay for it are on the table.
“The administration is working with the
As for the proposed expansion of the program, Pritzker’s “focus remains on investing in priorities he outlined during his budget address,” she said.
The popularity of the program, despite some shortcomings, among a population that has few other options for health care coverage perhaps shouldn’t have been a surprise.
When the program was introduced for those 65 and older in 2020, the budget for the entire year was spent in the first month, according to a briefing the
“The initial cost overrun should’ve raised alarms with HFS, and the Pritzker administration should’ve shared this information with all of the members of the
The cost of the program is “simply unsustainable and will lead to the loss of funding for services for our most vulnerable citizens,” Hammond said.
Rep.
“It is time that we have some adults in the room, and we need to exercise some fiscal responsibility,” Spain said. “We have to hit the pause button on this program before it’s too late.”
Sen.
“For seniors, 65 and older, back in 2020, and every year since then, we have expanded coverage. So, this year (we were) ultimately trying to finish that work that has been really in the works for over a decade,” said Aquino, whose district includes Latino neighborhoods on the Near Northwest Side.
The proposal isn’t meant for asylum-seekers, like those who have been sent to
“These are really for families that have been sort of already in the state of
Despite the budgetary concerns from analysts and
“We know the impact that this has had throughout the state of people who have been able to get health care coverage for the first time in their lives, and so we know how beneficial it’s been,” he said.
Aquino deferred to HFS when asked how the state might cover the costs of the program and his proposed expansion. “That’s something that HFS is sort of, supposedly, working on to get proposals to us,” he said. “That’s more of a discussion there.”
The higher-than-expected enrollment in the existing program should be viewed as a positive, said
It “means that more people than we expected are getting access to life-saving and life-changing health care, not only emergency and specialty care, but also primary care, preventative care, dental, vision, behavioral health, really comprehensive health care,” Siegel said.
Despite the initial surge, she said enrollment should plateau, as it has among the 65-and-older population that first became eligible in 2020.
Siegel pointed out that taxpayers already bear the costs of immigrants and others without health care when they show up in emergency rooms, often to be treated for conditions that could have been averted or taken care of at a lower cost if those individuals had access to primary care.
Siegel also noted that the state appears to be leaving federal money on the table by not getting reimbursement for qualifying emergency health services provided to immigrants without documents. Indeed,
Siegel said arguments against the program and its expansion are “fueled by a lot of, unfortunately, tired and typical talking points around immigrants taking our resources.”
Gorner reported from
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