FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: TUESDAY, APRIL 2, 2025
CONTACT: LAURIE R. GLENN | 773.704.7246
CHICAGO— “Your last day of medical coverage through HBIA will be June 30, 2025.”
This from the notice that recently came from Illinois Department of Healthcare and Family Services to participants in Illinois’ Health Benefits for Immigrant Adults program. Cutting the HBIA program would strip nearly 33,000 individuals of their healthcare coverage, disrupting lifesaving treatment plans and delaying access to healthcare until they have reached the point of crisis.
This means that common, treatable conditions that are currently being managed or prevented will be left unaddressed and may become acute, requiring more costly, avoidable interventions like inpatient care and emergency services. This also increases the cost burden for uncompensated care on clinics and hospitals serving low-income communities, negatively impacting the healthcare landscape for everyone.
The Healthy Illinois Campaign, which has championed this program as a net plus for Illinois taxpayers, is here to remind state legislators and the governor’s budget team of the many benefits that flow from HBIA.
These benefits, as documented in a data review authored by the Great Cities Institute at the University of Illinois Chicago and commissioned by Healthy Illinois, demonstrate the ample gains for
taxpayers and communities from the low cost of HBIA:
- Immigrants work and pay taxes — noncitizens are slightly more likely to be employed than citizens.
- In 2021, immigrants in Illinois had $54.9 billion in spending power, paying $8.6 billion in state and local taxes and $13.1 billion in federal taxes.
- Funding for HBIA was less than a half percent of the state budget.
Illinois has been a leader in closing the gap to healthcare coverage access, serving as an example for other states across the country. It fills gaps in coverage by targeting Illinois residents who would otherwise qualify for federal Medicaid but are ineligible due to their immigration status. HBIA recipients are vital to Illinois’ workforce and economy, filling essential roles across industries.
Our communities should not have to bear the costs of pushing the state’s immigrant community off this cliff, which will be created by the budget proposal legislators are now working with. Our coalition will be in the corridors of power every day between now and the day the budget measure is signed, working with lawmakers to craft a budget that can preserve this program in a fiscally responsible way.
The Healthy Illinois Campaign is committed to fighting for comprehensive health coverage, regardless of immigration status. We urge the governor and the Illinois General Assembly to continue providing lifesaving healthcare coverage to immigrant adults. And we ask community organizations, immigrant rights groups and everyone who understands the importance of this program to join us in our campaign to save it.