Stratton’s “Illinois Blueprint” on Healthcare Is Costly, Mismanaged, and Unsustainable
SPRINGFIELD — As Lt. Governor Juliana Stratton continues promoting her “Illinois Blueprint” for Washington, she points to policies she claims are successes in Illinois, including what she describes as “expanded access to affordable healthcare.”
“...And now I’m taking that blueprint to Washington, D.C.,” Stratton said. When asked how she would deliver, she pointed to Illinois as the model: “Well look what we’ve done here in Illinois…”
Stratton claims Illinois has made healthcare more affordable. Illinois’ working families know the reality is much different.
Health insurance premiums in Illinois are expected to rise sharply in 2026, with individual plans increasing by an average of 28.8% and marketplace plans potentially costing 78% more.
Some key drivers of those costs were revealed in a report from the Illinois Auditor General exposing significant mismanagement in the Pritzker-Stratton administration’s taxpayer-funded healthcare program for noncitizens, revealing widespread enrollment issues, massive cost overruns, and a failure to properly verify eligibility.
According to the audit, the program has cost Illinois taxpayers more than $1.6 billion since 2020, far exceeding initial projections, with some categories running nearly 300 percent over budget.
The findings raise serious concerns about oversight and accountability:
Nearly 500 duplicate enrollments
More than 6,000 enrollees classified as “undocumented” who had Social Security numbers
Hundreds of participants enrolled despite being eligible for Medicaid, shifting costs entirely onto Illinois taxpayers
Enrollment errors, including individuals listed in the wrong age groups
“Juliana Stratton is calling this ‘affordable healthcare,’ but it’s unaffordable for working families and it’s not affordable for Illinois taxpayers,” said Tracy.
“Healthcare costs are rising, not falling. And Illinois families are being asked to foot the bill for a system plagued by mismanagement and waste. And now Stratton wants to take that same approach nationwide.
“I’ve spent my career working with families and small businesses, and I know what it means when every dollar counts. We need common sense solutions that actually lower healthcare costs, not more waste and an ever increasing cost-of-living for taxpayers.”
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About Don Tracy:
Don is Senior Counsel at Brown, Hay & Stephens, the oldest law firm in Illinois, where Abraham Lincoln famously practiced law for four years. Public service is important to Don, with a lifetime spent in community service, most often in volunteer positions. He has served as Chairman of the Illinois Republican Party, Chairman of the Illinois Gaming Board, Secretary of the Illinois Bar Foundation, President of the Sangamon County Bar Association, Chairman of the Illinois Corporate Acts Advisory Committee, and President of the Abraham Lincoln Association, President of the Oak Ridge Cemetery Board, among other community leadership positions. Born in Urbana, raised in Mt. Sterling in Western Illinois, and having raised his own family in Springfield in Central Illinois, Don has deep ties to "downstate Illinois." As the oldest of 12 children, family has always been important to Don.