Pritzker calls on federal government to create ACA special enrollment period

Gov. JB Pritzker blasted reports Wednesday that President Donald Trump does not plan to create a special open enrollment period for the Affordable Care Act in response to the COVID-19 crisis.

Pritzker said that 500,000 of the state’s 800,000 uninsured would be eligible.

“Frankly, this is leadership malpractice,” he said.

Pritzker added that Illinoisans recently laid off from work qualify for coverage without the special enrollment period because they have experienced a “qualifying event.”

Pritzker also blasted the Trump administration for not backing down from a lawsuit seeking to overturn the federal law.

He called it a “special insult to the people of the nation at this moment.”

Pritzker added that the state has received more than 1,100 applications from former and out-of-state healthcare professionals wanting to help out during the crisis. He said many live in Illinois, but work in a border city.

Meanwhile, state officials reported 42 more deaths Wednesday, bringing the state’s total to 141. There were 986 new cases, bringing the total number of confirmed cases to 6,980 in 56 counties. There have been 40,384 individuals tested in Illinois.

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