Illinois residents who are eligible for a COVID-19 vaccine and refuse to take it would have to pay for their treatment if they contract the virus under a proposed new bill.
“I think 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,'” State Representative Jonathan Carroll told the Chicago Sun-Times this week.
Legislation filed at the Illinois House of Representatives on Monday proposed 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.”
Such a bill would apply to any health insurance policies “amended, delivered, issued, or renewed on or after January 1, 2023.”NEWSWEEK NEWSLETTER SIGN-UP >
The legislation has been criticized by Senate Republican Leader Dan McConchie, who likened it to “taking health care away from Illinoisans.”
Some 2,760 inpatient beds across the state are currently occupied by COVID-19 patients, according to data from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).
That represents more than 9 percent of all 30,456 hospital beds in Illinois, 19,560 of which are occupied by people receiving treatment for non-COVID-19-related conditions. That leaves less than 18 percent of hospital beds free.