Noncitizens in Illinois who get subsidized health care should have co-pays — always

Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker delivers his State of the State and budget address before the General Assembly at the Illinois State Capitol on Feb. 21.Brian Cassella/Chicago Tribune via AP, pool

As Gov. J. B. Pritzker and his administration continue to grapple with how they will care for the more than 35,000 migrants who have come to Illinois, the governor and his Department of Healthcare & Family Services are speaking from different sets of talking points when discussing the actual cost of health care for noncitizens (who don't qualify for Medicaid) and whether or not the programs are over budget for the year.The fiscal year 2024 budget includes a $550 million for health care for noncitizens, and Pritzker is on the record as saying they are “living within that cap.” I sit on the bipartisan and bicameral Joint Committee on Administrative Rules, and on Feb. 6, I specifically asked a representative of HFS how much the health care program for immigrants would cost this year. We were told the cost projected by the governor’s own budget office would reach $773 million, which is almost 50% higher than the budget amount.Additionally, a press release from the Pritzker administration went out recently that proclaimed co-pays for noncitizen health care were taking effect Feb. 1. It turns out that isn’t quite the case. In most cases, co-pays aren’t mandatory. They’re optional.During the JCAR meeting, I asked the HFS representative about the implementation of co-pays and was told providers could decide if they would charge them, and that the largest managed care provider in Cook County had already announced they would not. When pressed, we were told that mandatory co-pays are only required for overnight hospital stays and surgeries.Health insurance premiums are an expensive, yet necessary component of most Illinois families’ budgets, and on top of monthly premiums, each individual doctor visit also includes a co-pay. In fact, it is not uncommon for a monthly health insurance premium to top $2,000. That’s $24,000 per year in premiums, plus co-pays.Illinois residents need to know that while they pay high insurance premiums and hefty co-pays for their family’s health care, in most cases noncitizens are paying neither. It is time for the Legislature to adjust course, and prioritize Illinois citizens who are struggling to make ends meet.State Sen. Donald DeWitte (R-St. Charles), 33rd DistrictDefending NATO protects U.S.The letter to the editor titled “NATO countries should pay up” is an example of historical ignorance and bad logic.First, our NATO allies, regardless of what percentage of the GDP they pay for defense, have already paid America back for our protection. The only time NATO invoked Article 5, its pledge of mutual self-defense if any member was attacked, was in support of the United States after the attack on us on Sept. 11, 2001, when we retaliated by invading Afghanistan with the support of all of NATO. Our allies have paid us in advance for any support we might supply in the future.Second, the logic that NATO should be understood like the bad old days when there were no public fire departments ignores why we, in big cities and small towns, no longer rely on having to subscribe to fire insurance companies. If you paid, but your neighbor didn’t, yes, they’d let your non-paying neighbor’s house burn. And that fire might set your home on fire too. And then your home would burn, subscriber or not.Defending our NATO allies protects America. To pretend otherwise is to be willfully ignorant of history and logic.Bill Savage, Rogers Park