Illinois measure: Send covid bills to unvaccinated

State lawmaker says people’s decisions have consequences

Unvaccinated hospital patients in Illinois would have to pay their own coronavirus medical bills out of pocket, according to legislation proposed Monday by a Democratic state lawmaker.

Rep. Jonathan Carroll filed his bill amid the state’s struggle to contain covid-19 cases, hospitalizations and deaths.

“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 bill says.

The proposal from Carroll, who represents Northbrook, Ill., a Chicago suburb, is likely to face political opposition and legal concerns, as federal laws prohibits insurers and employers from charging higher prices to patients with preexisting conditions. That also includes those diagnosed and treated for covid-19, according to healthcare.gov.

But the Democratic lawmaker told The Washington Post that he was frustrated seeing vaccination arguments playing out between people who are “trying to do the right thing” and those “choosing not to get vaccinated for whatever reason.”

“If you choose not to get the vaccine and end up catching covid and end up having any medical expenses, you are responsible for those costs,” Carroll said Tuesday. “No one is telling anyone what they have to do. What we’re saying is if you make that decision to not get vaccinated and you are hospitalized, that’s the decision you’re making, and there’s consequences to that. It’s a simple formula.”

The proposal comes at a time when covid infections, fatalities and hospitalizations are on the rise nationwide, as the country inches toward 50 million reported coronavirus cases since the start of the pandemic. While there is concern and uncertainty about the omicron variant, public health experts nationwide are stressing that the overwhelming majority of the nation’s coronavirus cases are still caused by the highly transmissible delta variant, which has led to some of the worst spikes of the pandemic.

In Illinois, the state is averaging nearly 7,150 new infections a day, one of six states to average at least 7,000 new cases in the past seven days, according to data tracked by the Post. The state’s new case average increased by 73% compared with last week, data shows.

Deaths and hospitalizations in Illinois are also up in the past week. More than 2,750 people in the state are currently hospitalized for the virus, including 563 in intensive-care units.

Sixty-two percent of the state is fully vaccinated, which is higher than the national rate of 60%.

Carroll’s proposed legislation, which was an idea he said he got from a conversation with his wife, would amend Illinois’s insurance code. The change reflected in the two-page bill would update insurance policies issued or renewed on or after January 2023. While some public figures and celebrities have advocated for unvaccinated people to not be allowed into hospitals for treatment, Carroll’s bill appears to be one of the first of its kind to call for those not immunized to pay their hospital bills if they have covid.

“We’re in a world where covid is going to be here for a bit, and those who aren’t doing their part are creating new variants and continuing to spreading the disease,” he said. “We’ve tried so many different incentives and conversations to get people vaccinated, but people aren’t listening. And there is a potential consequence to that personal choice.”

Carroll acknowledged the uphill legal climb and political pushback for the bill, but stressed that the proposal was not about mandating vaccination or denying health coverage. He pointed to recent changes in other states and among businesses as signs that action needs to be taken in Illinois.

Nevada is the first state to impose an insurance surcharge on unvaccinated state employees, while Delta Air Lines has a similar monthly insurance surcharge for employees.

The bill has already faced opposition from state Republicans. Illinois Senate Republican leader Dan McConchie told the Chicago-Sun Times that he opposed Carroll’s bill because he was against “taking health care away from Illinoisans.”

Carroll said it was “exceptionally ironic” that some conservatives who remain unvaccinated and Republicans opposing the bill have long opposed the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.

“The people who complain about Obamacare are going to point to Obamacare as the reason why this bill can’t happen,” he told the Post, laughing. “They’re going to be citing the Affordable Care Act if it goes through the process and gets to a vote.”

He’s already faced blowback from critics in and out of his district who’ve used “some colorful language” to describe the bill, he said.

It’s unclear whether the bill could pass in its current form, and Carroll conceded that what he’s proposing is “going to evolve.” But he said that as the spread of the virus continues to be “the disease of the unvaccinated,” more of a political effort will be needed in Illinois to not only help hospitals but to send a message to those still refusing a shot.

“This vaccine argument is so polarizing. A lot of people who don’t live in my district seem to hate me right now,” he said. “But I’d like for us to get back to normal.”