McHenry Times

Gov. J.B. Pritzker is facing pushback from immigrant rights groups after signing off on legislation to pause enrollment in the Health Benefits for Immigrant Adults program as of July 1.

According to the State Journal-Register, The Healthy Illinois Campaign said the pause will force people “to forgo cancer treatment, diabetes care, mental health care, and countless other kinds of necessary medical treatment.”

Pritzker is taking advantage of the authority given to him by the passage of House Bill 1298 that allows him to limit the number of enrollees allowed in state-funded health care programs created for low-income noncitizens between the ages of 42 and 64-years-old who would otherwise be eligible for Medicaid benefits if not for their noncitizen status.

HB 1298 does little to change the Health Benefits for Immigrant Seniors program, which is a similar program reserved for noncitizens over the age of 65 age. The program is set to remain open unless enrollment reaches 16,500, at which time it will also be paused. Recent data showed numbers at 14,594.

While the Governor has previously defended the programs, arguing alongside advocates that it is cheaper to provide preventative care to noncitizens rather than making them rely on emergency room visits to treat conditions that have gone undiagnosed. His administration recently billed the pause in enrollment as a necessary move to ensure “programs do not exceed the funds available and appropriated by the General Assembly.”

The Illinois Department of Healthcare and Family Services is citing costs for the change.

“Compared with the traditional Medicaid population, month-over-month enrollment has grown at a higher rate, and per-enrollee costs have tracked higher among the HBIA and HBIS-enrolled populations due to more prevalent, untreated chronic conditions and higher hospital costs,” IDHFS said in a news release.

The emergency rules will now be considered by the Joint Committee on Administrative Rules, a bipartisan 12-member group of lawmakers from both chambers of the General Assembly, and will remain in place for the next five months as with HB 1298 paving the way for the administration to refile an identical rule after that time.