The Sentinel: 05/10/25

State health care programs for noncitizens provided significant benefits for Illinois hospitals

The programs have been controversial since they were first proposed. Republicans have been especially critical, saying the programs serve as an incentive for immigrants to cross into the United States illegally and settle in Illinois to receive taxpayer-funded health benefits.

by Peter Hancock
Capitol News Illinois

SPRINGFIELD – Two state-run health care programs that extend Medicaid-like coverage to noncitizens may have provided significant financial benefits for Illinois hospitals.

That’s according to preliminary results of an ongoing study at the University of Chicago that suggests the programs corresponded, at least in part, to a 15% reduction in the amount of bad debt Illinois hospitals incurred each year since the programs have been in full effect.

“The number that we find is a 15% reduction,” Aresha Martinez-Cardoso, an assistant professor and researcher at U of C’s Embodying Racism Lab, where the study is being conducted, said in an interview. “We think that that might be a high estimate, given what we know about perhaps other things that are going on that we can't entirely rule out, but we do think that part of that reduction is associated with the policy.”

That translates to an average of $1.5 million per year, per hospital, according to the report, although the exact amount would vary greatly depending on a hospital’s size and the volume of patients it treats who are covered by the programs. “Our early findings show that this landmark policy isn’t just about access — it also serves as a strategic investment in our hospitals and the health of entire communities,” Martinez-Cardoso said.

Those findings come as Gov. JB Pritzker’s administration is preparing to shut down the larger of the two programs as part of his budget proposal for the upcoming fiscal year. The Health Benefits for Immigrant Adults, or HBIA, currently covers more than 31,000 eligible noncitizens aged 42-64, at a cost of about $21 million per month, according to the most recent data from the Department of Healthcare and Family Services.

The other program, Health Benefits for Immigrant Seniors, covers eligible noncitizens aged 65 and over. That program currently covers about 8,900 individuals at a cost of about $10 million per month. Pritzker has not proposed eliminating it.

The programs were launched in 2020 and 2021, during the COVID-19 pandemic, as a means of extending health coverage to individuals who did not qualify for other publicly funded health care programs solely due to their immigration status. Those include individuals who are in the United States without legal authorization as well as certain legal permanent residents who have not yet been in the country long enough to qualify for Medicaid.

With the state facing slow revenue growth and a projected budget deficit in the coming year, Pritzker surprised many of his supporters in February when he proposed closing the HBIA program.

Eliminating the program for middle-aged adults is projected to save the general revenue fund about $330 million, according to the governor’s office. Pritzker told reporters after his address in February he expects the federal government will stop reimbursing states for costs associated with programs providing services to noncitizens.

A week after the governor’s budget address, the Illinois Auditor General released a report that said enrollment in both programs and their eventual costs had far exceeded their original projection. The cost for the two programs, the report said, exceeded $1.6 billion over the course of four fiscal years.

Unlike Medicaid, which is jointly funded with state and federal funds, the health programs for noncitizens are funded almost entirely with state dollars.

The study looked at publicly available hospital financial reports to analyze changes in the amount of uncompensated care they provided from 2017 to 2023. It also looked at similar data from hospitals in Indiana and Wisconsin, neighboring states that do not provide health benefits for noncitizens.

“We tried to flip it a few different ways,” Martinez-Cardoso said in an interview. “There could be a lot of other things happening. But when we test a bunch of different models … we kind of see a consistent pattern that the policy timing is associated with bad debt.”

She said the results so far are only preliminary and that analysis of the data is continuing. But she said the analysis so far shows a strong link between the enactment of the programs and an overall reduction in uncollectable debt.

Capitol News Illinois is a nonprofit, nonpartisan news service that distributes state government coverage to hundreds of news outlets statewide. It is funded primarily by the Illinois Press Foundation and the Robert R. McCormick Foundation.

Retaliatory action raises serious questions in world diplomacy

Operation Sindoor was not a move of aggression against the country of Pakistan, but a selective action against terrorism.

Viewpoint

by Ishanee Chaliha

India started Operation Sindoor on May 7, 2025, as a retaliatory action against the Pahalgam attack on April 22, 2025, that massacred 26 civilians. The attack was a massive blow to the Indian nation and the world in general.

Operation Sindoor was initiated as a retaliation with precision and hit nine targeted terrorist camps- four within Pakistan and five within Pakistan-occupied Kashmir. The operation was tactically commanded and guided by Wing Commander Vyomika Singh and Colonel Sofia Qureshi, and its successful accomplishment was greeted with overwhelming national admiration.

International responses to the operation were highly polarized. Israel expressed unambiguous support to India, labeling the operation as a rightful act of self-defence. Its Indian ambassador stated that “terrorists must know there is no hiding from their atrocious act against the innocents.”

On the contrary, countries like the United States, the United Kingdom, China, and Germany called for restraint and the resumption of diplomatic talks. U.S. President Donald Trump even went to the extent of condemning the operation as a “shame,” whereas the foreign secretary of the U.K. warned that "if this escalates further, nobody wins." Likewise, a Taliban statement from Afghanistan called for restraint and diplomatic talks on both sides.

These reactions have, however, raised some serious questions regarding the double standards of international diplomacy. Historical experiences indicate that terrorist attacks against Western countries frequently trigger massive military interventions under the pretext of an international war against terror.

However, when identical events take place in non-Western nations, particularly those in the Global South, response measures are most often termed as unwarranted or shameful. In addition, nations like China, which were accused of giving military aid to Pakistan, are now emerging as impartial intermediaries, contributing to the intricacies and perceived paradoxes of the international reaction.

Operation Sindoor was not a move of aggression against the country of Pakistan, but a selective action against terrorism. By limiting itself to targeting militant infrastructure and avoiding civilian casualties, the operation helps underline India's long-standing role as a country that never seeks war, yet has the will and ability to finish it once provoked. The international community's disparate responses to the operation lead one to pose the following critical question: Are such reactions based on genuine diplomatic concern or part of a larger trend of geopolitical hypocrisy?

Ishanee Chaliha a student studying political science at Christ University in Bangalore. In her free time she enjoys learning new languages and is currently working toward proficiency in Korean and German. She believes the key to a good life starts within yourself which is to find your individuality and cultivate on it and later contribute to the society through it.

Spartans shut out Unity, finish Illini Prairie season undefeated

SJO defeats Unity 10-0 on the road to clinch the Illini Prairie Conference title behind Pruemer’s shutout and Houchens’ 3-run homer.

TOLONO — St. Joseph-Ogden wrapped up a dominant Illini Prairie Conference season with an emphatic 10-0 shutout victory over rival Unity on Thursday, capping off a perfect run through league play.

SJO pitcher Asher Pruemer

Photo: Sentinel/Clark Brooks

Spartan pitcher winds up for a pitch against Westville on April 30. The junior hurler picked the win against Unity on Thursday.

The Spartans (27-2) controlled the game from the opening inning and never let up, scoring in four of six innings and leaning on a sharp pitching performance from Asher Pruemer to keep the Rockets (14-10) scoreless on their home field. The win clinched the conference title outright and extended SJO’s winning streak with just days remaining in the regular season.

Pruemer was in command throughout, scattering just two hits while striking out four in a six-inning complete game. The right-hander walked one and faced minimal traffic, thanks in part to clean defense and early run support.

SJO got on the board quickly in the first. After Will Haley drew a walk in his opening at-bat, he scored the game’s first run on Trevor Ames’ two-out single to center. That opened the floodgates — Logan Rosenthal, Ames, and Nolan Earley also came around in the inning to give the Spartans a 4-0 lead.

Unity’s Brady Parr struggled with command, allowing six hits, nine total runs — four earned — and issuing six walks in just 2 2/3 innings.

The Spartans added two more runs in the second behind Kodey McKinney’s sharp single down the right field line, extending the lead to 6-0. But the big blow came in the bottom of the third, when Bryson Houchens crushed a three-run homer to left, scoring Rosenthal and Pruemer to put SJO up 9-0.

McKinney, who went 3-for-3 with two RBIs, drove in the final run in the sixth, plating pinch runner Dalton York to end the game via run rule.

Photo: Sentinel/Clark Brooks

Spartans' Bryson Houchens loads for swing on Normal U-High pitch last month. He has hit home runs in last three outtings for SJO.

Houchens finished with three RBIs on the homer, and also scored twice. Rosenthal and Ames also crossed the plate twice apiece as the Spartans combined for nine hits and seven walks in the contest.

Unity’s lone offensive highlights came from Nolan Remole and Coleton Langendorf, who each recorded one hit, but the Rockets couldn’t generate sustained pressure against Pruemer.

St. Joseph-Ogden now turns its attention to a nonconference home matchup against Reed-Custer on Saturday as the Spartans continue to build momentum for the postseason.