Pritzker Administration vastly underestimated actual cost of $1.6 billion
On Wednesday, the Illinois Auditor General released the results of an audit of the Health Benefits for Immigrant Seniors and Adults program, which showed that the State of Illinois has already spent over $1.6 billion in taxpayer funds on health benefits for illegal immigrants.
Assistant Republican Leader C.D. Davidsmeyer (R-Murrayville) called the audit findings shocking and again demanded that the State immediately end the massively expensive program.
“As the chief sponsor of House Bill 1456 to end taxpayer-funded health benefits for illegal immigrants, I already knew that this program was running way over the initial cost estimates,” Rep. Davidsmeyer said. “But even I was shocked by audit findings that showed cost overruns of up to 286 percent higher than the Pritzker administration’s initial estimates. At a time when our State is facing a multi-billion-dollar budget deficit, we simply cannot afford to spend over $1.6 billion on this giveaway to illegal immigrants.”
According to the Auditor General’s report released on February 26, Governor Pritzker’s administration vastly underestimated the actual cost and actual enrollment of the HBIS and HBIA programs.
Regarding the initial cost estimates for all three fiscal years 2021, 2022, and 2023:
- for HBIS (65+) the total estimate was $224.0 million, while the actual total cost was $412.3 million or 84 percent higher;
- for HBIA (55-64) the total estimate was $58.4 million, while the actual total cost was $223.1 million or 282 percent higher;
- and for HBIA (42-54) the total estimate was $68.0 million, while the actual total cost was $262.2 million or 286 percent higher.
The total cost for the HBIS and HBIA programs since inception was just over $1.6 billion.
Last week, Governor Pritzker proposed ending the HBIA program for illegal immigrant adults aged 42-64 in his proposed Fiscal Year 2026 budget. The State of Illinois has already spent nearly $1 billion on health benefits for this age group, with actual costs being 282 to 286 percent higher than the administration’s initial estimates.
Representative Davidsmeyer discussed the secretive nature of how these programs were initially created and expanded in Illinois.
“The HBIS and HBIA programs were never fully debated and have never received stand-alone votes by the General Assembly. The initial HBIS program, along with the HBIA expansions, were slipped into several different Budget Implementation bills and a Medicaid Omnibus bill. I strongly believe that these massively expensive programs would never have passed as stand-alone bills,” said Davidsmeyer.
“We couldn’t afford free healthcare for illegal immigrants when the first HBIS program was passed during the COVID special session in 2020. And we certainly can’t afford it now. The State of Illinois needs to stop this giveaway immediately. Shut it down now!”