Amid violent threats, lawmaker ditches bill to make unvaxxed pay hospital bills

Enlarge / Intensive Care Unit nurse monitors patients in the ICU ward at Roseland Community Hospital on December 14, 2020, in Chicago, Illinois. (credit: Getty | Scott Olson)

Illinois Representative Jonathan Carroll is scrapping his proposed legislation to make willfully unvaccinated people pay COVID-19 hospital bills out of pocket after he received violent threats that also targeted his family, staff and synagogue.

The Democrat from the Chicago suburb of Northbrook introduced legislation earlier this week that would have amended the state's codes for health and accident insurance. The proposed bill aimed to prevent insurance policies from covering COVID-19 hospital bills for people who choose to remain unvaccinated without a medical reason.

The bill was quickly politically divisive-and legally dubious. Federal law prevents health insurance providers from denying or reducing coverage based on a change in a person's health status, including a diagnosis of COVID-19.

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