Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services administrator Dr. Mehmet Oz announced Thursday that an internal review uncovered more than $1 billion in Medicaid payments to illegal immigrants across several states, a problem he says the Trump administration is now moving to correct.
“The Democrats have been gaslighting us on this issue of Medicaid funds going to illegal immigrants for quite a while,” Oz said on “Fox & Friends.”
Healthcare for illegal immigrants has been a major issue prolonging the latest government shutdown, which is now entering its third week. Republicans accuse Democrats of allowing federal health dollars to go to illegal immigrants while standing in the way of efforts to cut government waste.
Oz said his agency’s investigation into the topic is “just getting started” and the latest figure covers only a few states.
“If you live in Texas or Florida, and you’re paying U.S. federal taxes – most people do – your money is being diverted to places like California who have robust benefits for illegal immigrants,” he said.
“Now we’re investigating it, and we’re [going to] continue to track this across the country.”
Democrats have refused to budge on reopening the government, saying they won’t vote for a funding bill unless it includes an extension of enhanced Affordable Care Act subsidies set to expire in 2025. They argue that not acting before the start of open enrollment in November could leave millions of Americans facing higher premiums.
Still, the White House says Democrats want to direct billions of dollars toward Medicaid coverage for illegal immigrants.
“Democrats’ proposal would result in nearly $200 billion spent on healthcare for illegal immigrants and other non-citizens over the next decade — enough to fund the entire Children’s Health Insurance Program,” the White House said in an online statement.
Oz called the issue a moral one, saying taxpayer dollars should not fund healthcare for individuals who do not pay into the system.
“You can’t just dole that out to able-bodied illegal immigrants in states because they think it’s the right thing to do,” he said.
“If they want to pay for it, they should pay for it.”
Federal law prohibits illegal immigrants from enrolling in Medicaid, but some states use loopholes to extend certain Medicaid-funded healthcare benefits to them.
Oz said his agency is now looking to close those loopholes.
“We will get all that money back into our federal coffers. The president is laser-focused on protecting the U.S. taxpayer.”
