Post by Cameron Desnoes. Colgate Class of 2023.

As COVID-19 disproportionately harms communities of color and the nation’s senior population, a new policy in Illinois has been put in place by the State and Gov. JB Pritzker to allow health care and testing to be more accessible for immigrants, regardless of their immigration status1. Passed by the Illinois General Assembly in late May, the new “FY 2021 Budget” allocates funding for comprehensive health insurance to all seniors2. The policy aims to expand publicly-funded health-care specifically to Illinois seniors whose households are below the FPL (Federal Poverty Line) and are undocumented3. Currently in Illinois, an estimated 400 seniors (65 and over) aren’t eligible for any coverage simply because of their status4. So in the midst of COVID-19, the State acknowledged they could not ignore the health of their residents and the most targeted group in this pandemic, low-income senior immigrants.

The urgency of the Coronavirus pandemic helped push this legislature through for the Healthy Illinois Campaign, which is a coalition of over 70 organizations committed to offering healthcare to all Illinoisians. However, this policy is only the start of their movement. Hand in hand with Governor Pritzker, the Healthy Illinois Campaign is working towards State-funded

health insurance to all Illinois residents below the FPL regardless of immigration status. While the estimated 1,000 senior residents that will be affected by new Illinois policy is only a sliver of the roughly 93,000 residents below the FPL — leaders of the campaign are considering this a major win.

‘”To even get our foot in the door on this was such a major win for us,” said Andrea Kovach, an attorney specializing in health care at the Shriver Center on Poverty Law. “And we have every intention of taking that foothold in the door and kicking it wide open for everyone.”’5

For Illinois residents affected by this change in State budget, they are even more ecstatic.

Many of the seniors who will benefit currently cannot afford to isolate themselves during a pandemic because of their financial situation. So, providing this healthcare is life altering6. Many immigrants, even senior, still send much of the money they make back to family in Mexico — and for some immigrants, to the coyotes7 who helped them arrive in the States.

The Long-Term Effects:

An unpublished study by the Rush University Medical Center estimates there will be a dramatic increase in undocumented seniors in Illinois in the future, predicting that the amount of older immigrants without legal immigration status will grow roughly to 55,000 in 20308. Illinois is taking the first step in preparing to restructure its healthcare system in order to tend to those undocumented immigrants who have been a backbone of the State’s economic structure for years.

This expansion is estimated to cost the State $5 million dollars. This amount is measly compared to the tax contributions of the senior group being covered9. A 2017 Study by the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy showed that Illinois residents without legal status contributed more than $758 million in State and sales taxes yearly10.

While this legislation is win for undocumented seniors in Illinois, it is only the beginning of health-care reform around the nation as more data emerges about the positive impact of immigrants (legal or not) to the United States economy. States like California began this movement last year by being the first State to offer health benefits to undocumented adult residents11 and may also be tempted to enact a similar plan to that enacted by Illinois for undocumented seniors.

In regards to the Illinois policy, it will begin enrollment in December and depending on its success, there may be much more in store for universal health coverage for low-income undocumented immigrants.

1 Yousef, Odette. “Undocumented, Low-Income Illinois Seniors Can Soon Get Publicly Funded Health Coverage.” NPR, NPR, 11 June 2020, www.npr.org/local/309/2020/06/11/874985727/undocumented-low-income-illinois-seniors-can-soon-get-publicly-fu nded-health-coverage.

2 Illinois Legislation Changes https://www.ilga.gov/legislation/101/HB/PDF/10100HB0357sam002.pdf

3 Amc-Admin. “Illinois Provides Critical Health Coverage to Low-Income Uninsured Seniors Regardless of Immigration Status.” Alivio Medical Center, 25 May 2020, www.aliviomedicalcenter.org/about/news/illinois-provides-critical-health-coverage-low-income-uninsured-seniors-r egardless.

4 Ibid

5 Yousef. “Undocumented, Low Income Seniors”

6 Rodriguez, Laura “’It’s a Relief’.” City, digitaledition.chicagotribune.com/infinity/article_share.aspx?guid=8079ce64-8e72-4759-bc5a-350a0a836acb.

7 Colloquial term for paid human traffickers that help with illegal border crossings.

8 Rodriguez, Laura “’It’s a Relief’.” City, digitaledition.chicagotribune.com/infinity/article_share.aspx?guid=8079ce64-8e72-4759-bc5a-350a0a836acb.

9 Ibid.

10 Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, https://itep.org/immigration/

11 Allyn, Bobby. “California Is 1st State To Offer Health Benefits To Adult Undocumented Immigrants.” NPR, NPR, 10 July 2019, www.npr.org/2019/07/10/740147546/california-first-state-to-offer-health-benefits-to-adult-undocumented-immigrants.