* I went through this with subscribers earlier today, but here’s the beginning of the Tribune’s take…

Backlash continued to rain down on Gov. J.B. Pritzker Wednesday following his decision last week to close enrollment for a state-funded health insurance program for immigrants under 65 as other Illinois officials highlighted that a bill is sitting on the governor’s desk that would allow the state to issue regular driver’s licenses for noncitizens.

Though not connected, the two issues took center stage as Pritzker continues to push back against criticism from Latino lawmakers and immigrant advocates that his administration’s decision on the health insurance program was “immoral and fiscally shortsighted.” Pritzker has defended the move because program costs are skyrocketing.

But protesters gathered at the Federal Plaza downtown for a “die-in,” in which they hammered Pritzker and carried signs in both English and Spanish declaring health care as a human right.

“I’m enraged that instead of getting to celebrate the lives that have lived and thrived under this program, we have to give our office of the governor the visual that they will react to, which is the lives that will die,” said Graciela Guzman, a former campaign director for Healthy Illinois, a coalition of pro-immigrant and health care advocates. “I’m here to remind you together in unity we can continue to make this push and we need to.” […]

When asked whether the governor plans to sign the driver’s license bill into law and if that would ease any criticism he’s received for his handling for the health care program, a Pritzker spokesman said the governor “looks forward to reviewing the bill.” The spokesman highlighted the administration’s support of immigrants and refugees, which he said includes “cash assistance, housing and utility assistance, employment and job training services, and health care education.”

Giannoulias’ office clarified that their presser was planned a couple of weeks ago. But it ran smack dab into the controversy.

…Adding… The bill in question hasn’t even been sent to the governor’s desk yet.

…Adding… The House has now sent the governor the rest of the bills it had, including the Giannoulias initiative.

* Background from WTTW…

Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s administration announced the coming changes on Friday. According to a news release from the state’s Department of Healthcare and Family Services, highlights include:

• A “temporary” enrollment pause. When the new fiscal year begins July 1, new eligible residents ages 42 to 64 won’t be able to sign up.
• The state will cap at 16,500 the number of seniors who can enroll.
• Everyone enrolled will have to start paying copays of $100 to $250 for hospital visits that are not eligible for matching federal reimbursement.

Those are qualifiers that Tovia Siegel, director of the Healthy Illinois Campaign, said are rooted in bias and were made without consultation of advocates.

“There’s concerns about people who don’t know this program exists and will show up at the hospital needing cancer care or other acute care and would have been eligible for coverage and now won’t be,” Siegel said. “There’s certainly confusion and fear now and there’s also trepidation about what hasn’t happened yet that we expect to happen when a program that we’ve had for years now is suddenly closed down.”

Siegel said the copays will be too expensive for a population that by definition is low-income, and that the enrollment cap leaves little room for more seniors to join.

The argument that it’s all about cost saving is nonsense, Siegel said, because in the long run access to preventative health care saves money. She believes something else is at play.

“The narrative around not being able to spend money on health care — and especially health care for the state’s most vulnerable — does come from a place of anti-immigrant sentiment and believing some people are more worthy of health care than others,” Siegel said.

* Capitol News Illinois…

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. The rules will remain in place for 150 days, although HB 1298 allows the administration to refile an identical rule after that time.

JCAR could vote by a two-thirds majority to suspend the rules. It could also object to them, leaving them in place while requesting a response from the administration. But nothing in law requires JCAR to act on the rules, in which case they would remain in place.

Advocates hailed the 2020 launch of the HBIS program as setting a “national precedent” for providing health care for immigrant seniors regardless of their legal residency status.

But it far outpaced the initial estimate of $2 million annually that was cited by its House sponsor at the time, Rep. Delia Ramirez, D-Chicago, who has since moved on to Congress.

“We have to protect something so fundamental to our humanity as providing health care coverage to people, regardless of documentation status,” Ramirez said in a statement after the governor announced the changes. “It’s extremely disappointing to hear that the state administration has decided to stop immigrants from accessing life-saving health insurance under the pretense that it costs too much, especially since the alleged costs of the program are in question.”

From May 27, 2020…

Illinois will become the first state to provide Medicaid for undocumented seniors not only because of what state Rep. Delia Ramirez has heard from her constituents, but because of her own family’s experience.

Tucked in near the end of the 465-page budget implementation bill that passed the Illinois General Assembly late Saturday night was a provision giving Medicaid access to noncitizens over 65 years old and whose income is $12,670 or less, which is at or under the federal poverty level. […]

The expansion was a big win for the Legislative Latino Caucus, which Ramirez took lead on the effort through the health and human services working group leading up to the special session. She said the coverage will save the state money in the long run, costing about $2 million, which in her opinion, “is nothing to a $2 billion Medicaid bill.”

* WICS…

Grassroots campaigns are utilizing social media platforms to spread the message to enroll online through the Department of Illinois Human Services.

“It’s not that terribly difficult [to enroll in the program]. But certainly, if we’re talking about large numbers of people coming in all at once, that might be a challenge,” Executive Director at East Central Illinois Refugee Center Lisa Wilson said.” This is all coming down pretty fast and furious.”

I heard anecdotally today that the sign-up app was overwhelmed ahead of the cutoff deadline.