Should immigrants lacking permanent legal status arriving in Chicago in big numbers get free health care paid for by the state?

It makes sense to provide at least basic medical services to refugees and others in need. Immigrants lacking permanent legal status often are refugees with children who have undergone arduous journeys and have few resources at their disposal. Paying attention to preventive care in the present often prevents expensive emergency room visits and other costly interventions down the road. And refugees deserve a humane welcome to the state. [Chicago Tribune]- Photo by Antonio Perez.

Nobody in an advanced society wants to deny a sick child medicine. Nor should they ever do so.

But U.S. health care mostly relies on a system of private insurance, something that immigrants lacking permanent legal status typically do not have. And health care in this nation is wildly expensive. That explains why Gov. J.B. Pritzker announced Friday some limitations on what had been closer to a carte blanche. 

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