Multiple blue states, with Democrat legislatures and governors, are spearheading plans that provide American taxpayer-funded health benefits to illegal alien senior citizens — an effort likely to entice healthcare migration to the states.
Illinois, California, and Oregon are implementing plans that allow illegal aliens, including senior citizens, to take advantage of health benefits. Open borders activists are currently lobbying New York state Democrats to pass similar plans.
The Associated Press detailed the initiatives:
[Illinois] dedicated $36 million of its recent $42 billion budget to expand coverage from those 65 and older to those 55 and older, including immigrants with legal status who don’t yet qualify for other help and those in the country illegally. More than 5,100 people have applied since December. Supporters estimate at least 12,000 will be eligible when the expansion kicks in next year. [Emphasis added]
California will spend $1.3 billion for a Medicaid expansion starting in 2022 that covers expenses for roughly 235,000 low-income immigrants 50 and older who are in the country illegally. [Emphasis added]
Oregon Gov. Kate Brown’s office said the state’s expansion will cover eligible low-income immigrant adults regardless of status, but health officials can narrow criteria to fit spending limits set by lawmakers. Up to 80,000 people could enroll. [Emphasis added]
Providing health benefits to illegal aliens became a major issue when, during the 2020 Democrat presidential primary, most of the Democrats running endorsed plans that would force American taxpayers to pay for the health benefits of the nation’s 11 to 22 million illegal aliens — even Americans who, themselves, do not have health insurance.
Forcing taxpayers to provide health benefits to all illegal aliens would cost American citizens anywhere between $23 billion to $66 billion every single year — potentially up to $660 billion for taxpayers every decade.
At the time, medical experts have admitted that providing health care to illegal aliens would ensure a never-ending flood of illegal aliens arriving at the southern border with “serious health problems,” for which local hospitals would have to cover the cost.
Already, taxpayers are forced to subsidize about $18.5 billion of yearly medical costs for illegal aliens living in the U.S., according to estimates by Chris Conover, formerly of the Center for Health Policy and Inequalities Research at Duke University.
When American voters were polled by CNN on the issue in July 2019, nearly 6-in-10 said they were opposed to such a policy, including 63 percent of swing voters and 61 percent of self-described “moderates.”
John Binder is a reporter for Breitbart News. Email him at jbinder@breitbart.com. Follow him on Twitter here.