West Central Reporter

On Wednesday, the Illinois Auditor General published an audit revealing that the state has spent over $1.6 billion in taxpayer funds on health benefits for illegal immigrants under the Health Benefits for Immigrant Seniors and Adults program. The findings have prompted Assistant Republican Leader C.D. Davidsmeyer to call for an immediate end to what he describes as a costly initiative.

"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 stated. "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."

The audit indicated that Governor Pritzker's administration significantly underestimated both costs and enrollment figures for these programs. Specifically, it highlighted discrepancies in estimated versus actual spending across different age groups covered by HBIS and HBIA from fiscal years 2021 through 2023.

For those aged 65 and older (HBIS), the projected total was $224 million, but actual expenses reached $412.3 million—an increase of 84 percent. For individuals aged 55-64 (HBIA), costs were expected at $58.4 million but soared to $223.1 million—282 percent higher than estimated. For ages 42-54 (HBIA), projections were $68 million with real costs at $262.2 million—286 percent above initial expectations.

Governor Pritzker recently suggested terminating the HBIA program for adults aged 42-64 in his Fiscal Year 2026 budget proposal, acknowledging nearly $1 billion already spent on this group with significant budget overruns.

Rep. Davidsmeyer criticized how these programs were established without full debate or standalone votes in the General Assembly: "The HBIS and HBIA programs were never fully debated and have never received stand-alone votes by the General Assembly."

"We couldn’t afford free healthcare for illegal immigrants when the first HBIS program was passed during the COVID special session in 2020," said Davidsmeyer, advocating for an immediate halt to these expenditures.

Davidsmeyer's remarks came on Thursday, February 27, 2025.