One of the Democrats running for governor of Illinois is proposing a huge expansion in a government healthcare program.
Under current law, Medicaid is for people who are elderly, poor or disabled. J.B. Pritzker wants to let anyone buy into the program.
Pritzker says rising insurance premiums — along with attempts to repeal Obamacare — mean many Illinoisans could lose coverage.
And he says because people would be paying their own way, there’d be no extra cost for the state. Two other Democrats in the race say the plan doesn’t go far enough.
State Sen. Daniel Biss and Chicago Alderman Ameya Pawar both want single-payer systems. That’s where Illinois government would take over paying for medical care from private insurance.
Pritzker says he supports the single-payer concept at the federal level.
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