House GOP demands answers on billions in Medicaid costs for illegal immigrants
FIRST ON FOX: House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform Chairman James Comer is demanding answers on the taxpayer cost of healthcare for illegal immigrants.
The letters to eight blue state governors and their health departments are a move to get more information on the issue, as the Congressional Budget Office estimates that $16.2 billion was spent on “Medicaid-funded emergency services” for people in the country illegally during the Biden administration’s first three years, according to a news release.
In the letters, Comer is asking for information about who can enroll in the state’s Medicaid and “Emergency Medicaid” programs, as well as lists and costs associated with operations done on illegal immigrants.
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“Specifically, the Committee is investigating waste, fraud and abuse in several Medicaid programs due to the Biden Administration’s failure to enforce U.S. immigration laws and the resulting expansion of benefits for illegal aliens,” Comer writes.
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The letters were sent to California Gov. Gavin Newsom, Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker, Colorado Gov. Jared Polis, Maine Gov. Janet Mills, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, and New York Gov. Kathy Hochul, along with the health departments in each of the eight states. Comer is wanting “documents and communications” dating back to January 2019 until now. The deadline to cooperate is Sept. 17.
Minnesota, California, and Illinois each faced budget concerns this year due to the ongoing cost of public healthcare availability to illegal immigrants in the states Medicaid programs, which led to some recent reforms, according to the Wall Street Journal in June.
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In addition to asking for more information, Comer is also specifically asking Walz, who was the former 2024 Democratic vice presidential nominee, to explain a June 12 statement in a congressional oversight hearing with “Sanctuary State Governors.”
“I don’t have the exact number. It is not Medicaid. It is State that does this through MinnesotaCare, different program,” the Democratic governor said in the hearing when asked about how many illegal immigrants are getting Medicaid benefits.
“Governor Walz’s statement is likely misleading based on the programmatic relationships between Minnesota’s Medicaid program, also known as Medical Assistance (MA), its counterpart Emergency Medical Assistance (EMA), and the MinnesotaCare program,” Comer wrote.
“Further, the Committee understands that Minnesota has co-mingled funds for the EMA and MinnesotaCare programs potentially enabling federal funds to cover illegal immigrants under the MinnesotaCare program,” he continued.
Outside of taxpayer-funded health insurance coverage, the border crisis resulted in a major medical care burden in border communities like Yuma, Arizona, as many areas along the southern border only have a handful of hospitals in a particular region.
Fox News Digital reached out to each governor’s office.
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