Illinois Democrat Proposes Legislation That Would Take Away Health Insurance from Non-Vaccinated Residents

Illinois Democrat Proposes Legislation That Would Take Away Health Insurance from Non-Vaccinated Residents


When it comes to employing authoritarian solutions to non-problems, we can always count on Democrats.

According to a Thursday report by the Chicago Sun-Times, state Rep. Jonathan Carroll is proposing a bill that would strip Illinoisans of their health insurance coverage if they opt-out of a COVID-19 vaccine for any reason.

The Sun-Times adds:

Unvaccinated Illinoisans would have to pay for their health care expenses — including hospital bills — out of pocket if they contract COVID-19 under legislation filed Monday in the Illinois House.

State Rep. Jonathan Carroll’s bill is likely to face legal challenges and political pushback, but the Northbrook Democrat downplayed those concerns, saying it all boils down to frustration between those who have “been following the science and … trying to do the right thing” and those who are “choosing not to get vaccinated, who are able to, for whatever they choose.”

“It’s time that we say ‘You choose not to get vaccinated, then you’re also going to assume the risk that if you do catch COVID, and you get sick, the responsibility is on you,'” Carroll said.

Why is it ‘time’ to ‘say’ this? And isn’t this really a matter between the unvaccinated consumer and his or her insurer?

According to the paper, this tyrannical legislation would amend the state’s insurance code so that “a person who is eligible to receive a COVID-19 vaccine and chooses not to be vaccinated shall pay for health care expenses out-of-pocket if the person becomes hospitalized because of COVID-19 symptoms.”

The change would affect individual health or accident insurance policies issued or renewed on or after Jan. 1, 2023.

“This is becoming a disease now of the unvaccinated,” Carroll claimed (which doesn’t account for vaccinated Americans who still test positive for, or come down with, the virus — so-called “breakthrough” infections).

“If someone obviously can’t have a vaccine for health reasons, that’s a completely different conversation. But if you’re an able-bodied person able to get this vaccine and you’re choosing not to, then you’re putting us all at risk, and we’re seeing this as the variants continue to spread,” Carroll noted.

“We’ve tried everything we can do to educate the public on the vaccine. Again, the vaccine is working, and people are, for whatever reason, choosing not to get it. Now it’s to a point where … it shouldn’t be the responsibility of those of us that are,” he claimed.

Republicans — members of the “Rational Party” — are opposed. State Senate Republican Leader Dan McConchie noted in a brief statement he opposes “taking health care away from Illinoisans.”

What’s more, under federal law, insurance plans including those that are offered via Obamacare’s “Marketplace” cover all treatment for preexisting conditions and cannot terminate a person’s coverage due to a change in health status — which includes the diagnosis and treatment of COVID-19, Healthcare.gov notes.

Carroll brushed aside concerns about the legality of the bill. The Sun-Times noted that he said some of his House colleagues are “very supportive” of the measure but Monday’s offering is a “starting point — we’ll see where the conversations go.”

In an editorial, the Sun-Times pushed back on Carroll’s proposal while still holding that unvaccinated people ought to “pay a price.”

It read:

Our patience has worn thin. But not that thin — yet. …

For one, no desperately sick person should have to risk access to life-saving medical treatment because they cannot afford it.

Second, it’s a slippery slope: First, it’s the unvaccinated paying their own hospital costs. Next, it’s requiring smokers who refuse to quit to pay for their own lung cancer treatment. Or the overweight paying out-of-pocket for knee replacement because excess weight wore down their joints.

Where does it end?

That’s the point: For authoritarian Democrats, the tyranny never ends.


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