President Donald Trump and congressional leaders have been trying to hash out their differences to reopen the US government. Democrats say they will not support any stopgap funding bill without extensions to enhance Affordable Care Act (ACA) tax credits. Republicans contend their opponents are demanding free health care for illegals, which has drawn the ire of the mainstream media. So, who's telling the truth?
Free Health Care for Illegals?
House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) argues it is up to Democratic lawmakers to turn the lights back on in Washington. Rather than championing $1.5 trillion in partisan spending demands, he notes they should support a seven-week funding measure to allow both sides to iron out their differences, particularly on health insurance subsidies. But the Democratic leadership insists they are not supporting legislation because enhanced Obamacare premiums are set to expire on Dec. 31.
But is it about Obamacare, or is it free health care for illegals? The answer depends on whom you ask.
The White House claims that Democrats are responsible for shutting down the federal government, laying out six of their provisions that would allow $200 billion to be spent on health-care subsidies for illegal immigrants and other non-citizens. "Adding insult to injury, Democrats are also seeking to undo critical reforms that strengthen the healthcare system for American patients," the White House said in a memo, pointing to repealing $50 billion investments in rural health care and ending Bill Clinton-era work requirements for able-bodied working-aged adults without kids.
Appearing at an Oct. 1 press briefing, Vice President JD Vance told reporters the legislative text the Democratic Party submitted "is a ridiculous proposition" that would "give health care benefits to illegal aliens." According to Vance, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) is doing this because he “is terrified he's going to get a primary challenge from Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez."
Schumer, in an interview with MSNBC's Morning Joe, stated that this claim is "a total, absolute effing lie." House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) told CNBC's Squawk Box hours before the shutdown that "it's a lie" that Democrats want to provide free health care for illegals.
However, while the leadership claims one thing, certain members of the party say otherwise.
Rep. Ro Khanna (D-CA), for example, told Fox Business on Sept. 30 that "the amount of money that is actually going to people that [are] undocumented is such a small portion of the Medicaid cuts or the Affordable Care Act, if at all.” Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA) told LindellTV's Alison Steinberg: "Democrats are demanding healthcare for everybody. We want to save lives. We want to make sure that healthcare is available to those who would die [without] having, having the help of their government.”
Reading the Fine Print
Perusing legislative text is like reading Homer’s Odyssey in small print upside down. Many are combing through the Democrats' proposal to repeal various reforms in the One Big Beautiful Bill, which features restrictions on Medicaid and CHIP funding for illegal immigrants. The measure removed approximately 1.4 million ineligible enrollees.
A deeper dive into the text, particularly Section 71109 ("Alien Medicaid Eligibility"), suggests that the only non-citizen groups who remain eligible for Medicaid and CHIP are lawful, permanent US residents, Cuban and Haitian entrants, and individuals lawfully residing in the United States under a Compact of Free Association. Section 2141 ("Repeal of Health Subtitle Changes"), meanwhile, does return funding for emergency Medicaid to hospitals treating illegal aliens and other non-citizens.
Repealing many of the Medicaid reforms in the GOP megabill signed into law this past summer would make it harder for the US government to prevent illegals from accessing the program, which is what the White House highlighted in its memo. In other words, while Democratic congressmembers and senators might not be outright demanding taxpayer-funded health-care coverage for illegals, their requests for repeals would result in this very thing.
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