The state of Utah is now offering taxpayer-funded health insurance to children who arrived illegally in the United States thanks to a plan approved last year by Democrat and Republican legislators.
Under an amended version of Utah’s Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP), children in the U.S. illegally are eligible to receive taxpayer-funded medical benefits. Open enrollment for the amended program started on January 1.
For Utah taxpayers, the annual bill is about $4.5 million and about 2,000 illegal alien children are expected to enroll in the amended program. According to the latest estimates, nearly 150,000 illegal aliens reside in Utah today.
Only seven Republican state representatives and three Republican state senators opposed extending Utah’s CHIP to illegal alien children. Utah Gov. Spencer Cox (R) also approved the extension.
Utah remains one of the reddest states in the U.S., having not voted for a Democrat for president since 1964. Former President Donald Trump, for instance, won Utah in 2020 with almost 60 percent of the vote, while President Joe Biden garnered less than 40 percent.
Meanwhile, in nearby California, illegal aliens residing in the state are now fully eligible for taxpayer-funded health insurance. Previously, such insurance programs were limited to American citizens, legal immigrants, and illegal alien children, but now have been expanded by Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) to include all eligible illegal aliens in California.
John Binder is a reporter for Breitbart News. Email him at jbinder@breitbart.com. Follow him on Twitter here.