IT’S FRAUD ALL THE WAY DOWN: Newly released records reveal 725% increase in Medicaid for Illinois children without SSNs.

After more than a year of digging, Statehouse candidate Bailey Templeton’s most public records collection shows 1,085 Illinois children under 18 without SSNs had Medicaid bills of $66 million in 2025. That’s up 725% from $8 million for 450 children in 2021.

“It’s roughly $40 million spent on inpatient treatment, that’s a lot of time for children to be in hospitals,” Templeton told The Center Square Friday.

The data only generates more questions for Templeton.

“It raises questions about what would be called medical trafficking, where things are conducted on to children when they’re too young to be able to consent to these things,” she said.

Or whether there were any medical services — or even kids — at all.