McHenry Times

Illinois State Sen. Don DeWitte (R-St. Charles) is accusing House Democrats of using unscrupulous methods to get new legislation passed that would expand Medicaid coverage for undocumented noncitizens.

House Bill 4343 was passed on the legislative session's final day. It did not go through the typical legislative process but was instead approved through a "working group." 

DeWitte criticized both the process that was used to pass the bill and the bill's associated costs.

"It's legislation like this run roughshod through the constitutional process that makes Illinois the laughing stock of the nation," DeWitte said in a recent Facebook post. "Hang on to your medical premiums folks. Who do the Dems think is going to pay for this?!?!? I'll give you three guesses…"

The proposed legislation was passed via a "working group," which operates like a committee except that the hearings are not public, a recent Shaw Local News report said. Additionally, group members are not publicly known.

Some members of the Medicaid working group have since spoken out, noting that the language about "noncitizens" was never discussed in the group. 

"We had a bipartisan group for the last three months, getting up at 7 o'clock in the morning for these meetings, with the agreement that all Medicaid expansions and increases were going to be working through this group," State Sen. Dave Syverson (R-Cherry Valley) said in the Senate, quoted by Shaw Local News. "And then you turn around a couple hours after this agreement and you change the bill."

The Illinois General Assembly passed HB 4343, an "omnibus" Medicaid bill, on the last day of the legislative session; a recent report from Illinois Newsroom said. The bill includes a provision that expands Medicaid coverage to undocumented noncitizens over 42 years of age. In 2020, Illinois became the first state to provide Medicaid coverage to undocumented noncitizens ages 65 and older, and state legislators lowered the age to 55 in 2021.

Current federal law grants Medicaid coverage to certain noncitizens who are in the country lawfully, including green card holders and refugees; Illinois Newsroom said. The federal government, however, will not reimburse coverage for undocumented noncitizens. With the State's latest age reduction, Illinois taxpayers will now have to pay an estimated $68 million per year to supply Medicaid coverage to undocumented noncitizens.

In 2019, there were an estimated 425,000 undocumented immigrants living in Illinois, a Migration Policy Institute report said. The majority (75%) of that number are between the ages of 25 and 54, and an estimated 52% are uninsured. 

HB 4343 is awaiting Gov. JB Pritzker's signature.