NW Illinois News

The Better Government Association has released a report showing that Gov. J.B. Pritzker has invested in the Centene Corp., a company that has received billions of dollars in state contracts for Medicaid. 

According to the report, a blind trust that was set up to managed Pritzker’s finances bought stock in Centene in 2020. The stock purchase was made on behalf of Northern Trust that handles Pritzker’s finances. Centene received more than $2.6 billion from state Medicaid contracts in 2021, the BGA report states.

Rep. Tony McCombie spoke out about this, saying that this wouldn’t be a story if there wasn’t an obvious conflict of interest.

“Pritzker’s representatives, nor managers of his trust would say how much the investment in Centene is Worth to the governor's bottom line,” McCombie said. “This is one of the largest state contracts in Illinois. Centene has made millions on serving our most vulnerable population under Medicaid. And it's not appropriate or ethical for the governor to be a known investor.”

McCombie added that it is “not good to be profiting from the medical care and the hardships of the most vulnerable.”

Rep. Deanne Mazzochi also recently spoke out against Pritzker’s involvement with Centene, saying that the time has come for Pritzker to be open, honest and transparent about his financial interest. She also called for him to show his full tax returns.

According to the report, Pritzker’s Communication Director Jordan Abudayyeh denied that Pritzker has been involved in any of the decision making involving his trust. He also referred all questions to his campaign team. The report added that Centene has denied that it knew Pritzker was a record holder of the stock. Pritzker’s lawyer and campaign spokesperson said that Pritzker’s trust is completely blind and he has no involvement in decisions on investments.