Border Crisis: Are Illegal Migrants Entitled to Medicaid?

Posted Oct 23, 2024
by Martin Armstrong |
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Kamala Harris and Joe Biden have declared that illegal migrants may have access to Medicaid in a move that will cost billions. Individual state rights are coming into play once again, but how do individual states manage a federally funded program? Estimates believe over 21 million people have entered the United States since 2022, but no one knows the true figure. The Foundation for Government Accountability has produced a new study that indicates a major catastrophe ahead for Medicaid as million of people who have never paid into the fund are receiving access.

Arizona, Kentucky, Missouri, Texas, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, and Michigan have reported a 500% increase in Medicaid usage since 2019 due to migrants. The states required to provide financial transparency revealed that the cost of Medicaid to taxpayers has increased 550%. Hospitals allegedly check to see if a patient is a US citizen, but even if they are unable to provide proof, they are still legally required to treat them. Patients unable to provide proof of citizenship are given a 90-day grace period to show documents but states are now extending that period or simply asking for proof of citizenship.

Blue states like New York, Oregon, and California want to expand Medicaid coverage to illegal migrants regardless of citizenship status. In New York, anyone over 65 may enroll, so long as they reach the low to no income requirement. California and Oregon have already begun providing migrants with full Medicaid benefits. The Foundation for Government Accountability believes that taxpayers in California alone are now paying an additional $4 billion annually to cover these costs.

“Nationwide, taxpayers could soon be paying tens of billions of dollars on health care for people who have no right to our safety net—including those who have no right to be in the country,”   says Hayden Dublois, analytics director at the Foundation for Government Accountability. “All of health care will suffer, too,” Dublois says. “Medicaid pays much less than private insurance, so burdening hospitals with illegal aliens will lead to mounting red ink. Some hospitals have already closed, especially in states that expanded Medicaid under Obamacare, and covering illegal aliens will likely cause more to follow suit.”

The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) believes that US taxpayers have already footed a $16.2 BILLION bill to provide emergency Medicaid care to illegal immigrants since the beginning of the Biden-Harris Administration, marking a 124% increase since the Trump Administration. “With over $16.2 billion flowing from federal and state governments’ coffers to pay for emergency services for illegal aliens, it is clear that Open Border Czar Vice President Harris’s failed border policies remain the greatest threat to both the United States’s national security and our economic standing,” the CBO reported.

This was never a partisan issue. Former President Bill Clinton approved the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 (PRWORA) that prevented illegals from accessing Medicaid and other federally funded benefits. The loophole here is that they are able to access Medicaid for “emergency” situations and then are provided a minimum 90-day grace period, thanks to Biden and Harris.

Kamala Harris recently voiced her support for migrants over taxpaying citizens. “Health care is a basic human right,” Harris said. “No one should be denied medical attention because of their status.”

Countless people are continuing to flock to the United States as our borders remain open. Every payroll you can see the amount paid into Medicaid by people who may never have access to this service. American taxpayers are now on the hook for three ongoing wars, over 21 million migrants, and countless spending packages. Yet people are cheering that we cant turn back the page to 3.5 years ago when NONE of these issues existed.