The U.S. Census Bureau shows that more than one in ten people living in Aurora, Illinois under the age of 65 didn’t have health insurance between 2020 and 2024. Local State Representative Barbara Hernandez (D-Aurora) supports a bill that would give some people the option to communicate with a health professional via text. But the city’s mayor does not agree with the bill’s approach and has other concerns with the idea.
House Bill 5772 would amend the municipal code. It will allow a city or town to enter into a contract with a company that offers the option for residents to text a physician. Hernandez said access to health care is important to the community.
“It should be a need and a requirement versus what right now we have,” she said. “It’s kind of like a luxury, unfortunately, how insurance companies have been doing it. So, this is why the company said, you know, let’s put it in the utility bill because this is where it belongs with everything else.”…