Judicial Watch, Corruption Chronicles
A universal children’s health insurance program created by Illinois’ corrupt former governor is covering mostly illegal immigrants and costing taxpayers tens of millions of dollars amid a perplexing $13 billion state budget deficit.
About 75% of the children enrolled in the All Kids Health Care program (also known as KidCare) are illegal aliens and the annual cost of covering them is nearly $55 million, according to a state audit of the 5-year-old insurance program. The findings, issued recently by the Illinois State Auditor General, are detailed in a 14-page report that’s been largely ignored by the mainstream media.
It reveals that two-thirds of the 71,665 children enrolled in the program in 2009 are undocumented immigrants. Illinois taxpayers dished out an astounding $54.9 million to provide them with medical insurance that year alone and there’s no telling what future tabs will be as the enrollees grow.
When former Governor Rod Blagojevich, whose federal corruption trial is set to begin this week, proudly signed legislation to create the insurance program, he assured it would help families who can’t afford health insurance but “are doing everything they’re supposed to do—working hard, paying their taxes.” The program is supposed to be partially funded by low monthly premiums charged to families.
The reality is that the severely mismanaged insurance program keeps paying medical claims when families don’t pay their premiums and many claims are paid after recipients are too old to participate. Additionally, All Kids is only serving about a third of its intended beneficiaries at double the cost estimated by legislators who created it with great fanfare.
Illinois has long offered illegal aliens sanctuary and in fact passed legislation a few years ago restricting employers from verifying whether employees are authorized to work in the United States. Various cities, including Chicago and Addison, forbid law enforcement officers from inquiring about the immigration status of suspected illegal aliens. As a result the state spends more than $3 billion annually on healthcare, education and incarceration for illegal immigrants.
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