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Come July 1, the $55.2 billion fiscal year 2026 Illinois state
budget removes the provision Pritzker had previously enacted to
give state taxpayer subsidies to the health care of non-citizen
adults. Pritzker said Illinois isn’t the only state
discontinuing such programs.
“It was a program that had been growing significantly in cost,”
Pritzker said. “I do believe that everybody should have health
care. I also know that we have to live within our means.”
Despite the budget being the latest spending plan in state
history, and costing $15 billion more than when he took office
in 2019, Pritzker said they had to cut costs to balance the
coming budget.
“So we’ve got to reign it in and make sure that we’re actually
balancing the budget,” he said. “That was part of the decision
that was made in regard to that program.”
Last year, Illinois taxpayers spent $330 million on the HBIA
program. The Health Benefits for Immigrant Seniors, covering
non-citizens 65 and up, is budgeted for the coming fiscal year,
at $140 million.
On the House floor before the budget vote, state Rep. Bill
Hauter, R-Morton, warned that the HBIS program won’t work
either.
“This budget is acknowledgment that we [Republicans] were right
about HBIA and we will be about HBIS,” Hauter said.
Both programs were found by a recent Illinois Auditor General
report to cost Illinois taxpayers more than $1.6 billion in just
three years. Aside from cost overruns, there were also internal
reporting errors.
Hauter warned that if the state continues to use state taxpayer
dollars to fund health care benefits for ineligible
non-citizens, it is risking federal taxpayer funds.
“The people of Illinois deserve to hear if we are willing to
risk the entire [Affordable Care Act] expansion program in
defense of the HBIS program,” Hauter said.
The sponsor of the budget bill said any federal changes wouldn’t
come until after the coming fiscal year.
A measure working through the U.S. Congress would reduce
Medicaid dollars for states that cover non-citizen health care
costs. The Kaiser Family Foundation estimates the taxpayer
impact for Illinois through the next nine years could be $10
billion.
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