Report: California Spent $365 Million in 2018 to Give Illegal Immigrant Children Health Care

California spent roughly $365 million last year to cover over 100,000 illegal immigrant children through its Medi-Cal program, according to a report released Tuesday.

Kaiser Health News released a report Tuesday detailing how many illegal immigrant children receive care through California’s Medicaid program, Medi-Cal.

Kaiser found that the number of illegal immigrant children dropped recently in February 2019 to 127,845, which represents a five percent drop from its peak 134,374 in April 2017. The news organization said California spent $365 million in 2018 through the Medi-Cal program to cover illegal immigrant children.

The report arises as California signed a budget that would expand Medi-Cal to illegal immigrants under the age of 26. Estimates project that the expansion will cost $98 million and could cover up to 90,000 illegal aliens. Half of the 2020 Democrat presidential candidates also promised to provide healthcare for illegal immigrants. Giving away healthcare to illegal immigrants could cost the nation $660 billion every decade, according to one analysis.

President Donald Trump threatened California’s expansion of benefits to illegal immigrants. The president also chastised Democrats’ move to give illegal aliens health care.

“The Democrats want to treat the illegals with health care and with other things, better than they treat the citizens of our country,” Trump said recently.

Federal law prevents illegal immigrants from receiving Medicaid; however, states such as California exploit a loophole by using state funds to extend Medicaid benefits to illegal aliens.

Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-LA) and other Republican senators proposed the Protect Medicaid Act to prohibit states such as California from using federal money to administer state Medicaid benefits, paid for by Americans citizens, to illegal immigrants.

Sen. Cassidy said providing health care for illegal immigrants is “unfair” to Americans who need assistance.

“Governor Newsom’s plan is a giant magnet for more illegal immigration, and it will hurt California citizens who depend on Medicaid,” said Sen. Cassidy. “Simple math says you can’t add the entire population of another country to Medicaid and still take care of the American citizens who need it.

“In addition, the plan is unfair to vulnerable Americans and it’s not fair to middle-class families paying taxes—taking care of them should be our priority. Compassion that cannot be sustained is not compassion,” Cassidy added.