{"id":2505339,"date":"2025-10-31T16:09:02","date_gmt":"2025-10-31T20:09:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/5-states-handed-out-1-4b-in-federal-medicaid-funding-to-illegals\/"},"modified":"2025-10-31T16:10:40","modified_gmt":"2025-10-31T20:10:40","slug":"5-states-handed-out-1-4b-in-federal-medicaid-funding-to-illegals","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/5-states-handed-out-1-4b-in-federal-medicaid-funding-to-illegals\/","title":{"rendered":"5 States Handed Out $1.4B In Federal Medicaid Funding To Illegals"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">22<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2F5-states-handed-out-1-4b-in-federal-medicaid-funding-to-illegals%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2505339&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>A preliminary audit by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) revealed that five states-California, Illinois, Colorado, Oregon, Washington-and Washington, D.C., distributed over $1.35 billion in federal Medicaid funds to undocumented immigrants, with California accounting for the vast majority. CMS Administrator Dr. Mehmet Oz highlighted these findings, emphasizing that this spending occurred within recent months despite federal laws prohibiting the use of medicaid for illegal immigrants. While states share the funding and administration of Medicaid with the federal government, they are barred from using federal funds for this purpose, though some use state funds, creating loopholes that effectively allow federal dollars to support these expenses. dr. Oz criticized the practice, noting that Democrats have pushed federal funding for illegal immigrants despite legal restrictions. The article also discusses the strain undocumented immigrants place on the healthcare system, including emergency room usage mandated by federal law under EMTALA, which requires treatment regardless of immigration status. Recent reforms aim to address these burdens,but further changes,including adjustments to EMTALA,are suggested to prevent system abuse and reduce costs to American taxpayers.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"article-body body-md bdr-top-black pt-30\">\n<div class=\"row justify-content-center\">\n<div class=\"col-12\">\n<figure class=\"article-thumbnail mb-30 mb-sm-60\">\n<div class=\"article-thumbnail-caption d-flex align-items-center justify-content-md-end label-xs mt-15\">         <i class=\"mdi mdi-camera me-10\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><\/i>         <span class=\"visually-hidden\">Image Credit<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=Wf5N8PzJesc\">CMSHHSgov \/ Youtube<\/a>       <\/div>\n<\/figure><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"article-share text-center article-share-simple\">\n<h5 class=\"label-sm mb-10\">Share<\/h5>\n<ul class=\"article-share-list list-unstyled m-0 p-0\">\n<li class=\"article-share-facebook m-0\">       <a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer\/sharer.php?u=https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2025\/10\/31\/5-states-handed-out-1-4b-in-federal-medicaid-funding-to-illegals\/\" target=\"_blank\">         <i class=\"mdi mdi-facebook\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><\/i>         <span class=\"visually-hidden\">Share Article on Facebook<\/span>       <\/a>     <\/li>\n<li class=\"article-share-twitter m-0\">       <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=5%20States%20Handed%20Out%20%241.4B%20In%20Federal%20Medicaid%20Funding%20To%20Illegals&amp;url=https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2025\/10\/31\/5-states-handed-out-1-4b-in-federal-medicaid-funding-to-illegals\/\" target=\"_blank\">         <i class=\"mdi mdi-twitter\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><\/i>         <span class=\"visually-hidden\">Share Article on Twitter<\/span>       <\/a>     <\/li>\n<li class=\"article-share-truth-social m-0\">       <a href=\"https:\/\/truthsocial.com\/share?title=5%20States%20Handed%20Out%20%241.4B%20In%20Federal%20Medicaid%20Funding%20To%20Illegals&amp;url=https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2025\/10\/31\/5-states-handed-out-1-4b-in-federal-medicaid-funding-to-illegals\/\" target=\"_blank\">         <svg xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" fill=\"currentColor\" style=\"width:36px;height:auto;\" viewbox=\"0 0 92 93\"><path d=\"M69.444 55.716H56.772v10.37h12.672zM64.487 37.795V27.32H38.666v38.664h13.18v-28.19zM21.05 27.321h12.653v10.471H21.051z\" https:><\/path><\/svg>         <span class=\"visually-hidden\">Share Article on Truth Social<\/span>       <\/a>     <\/li>\n<li class=\"article-share-link m-0\">       <button data-clipboard-text=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2025\/10\/31\/5-states-handed-out-1-4b-in-federal-medicaid-funding-to-illegals\/\" data-tooltip-content=\"Copied!\" class=\"clip tooltip\">         <i class=\"mdi mdi-link-variant\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><\/i>         <span class=\"visually-hidden\">Copy Article Link<\/span>       <\/button>     <\/li>\n<li class=\"article-share-email m-0\">       <a href=\"mailto:?subject=5%20States%20Handed%20Out%20%241.4B%20In%20Federal%20Medicaid%20Funding%20To%20Illegals&amp;body=%20https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2025\/10\/31\/5-states-handed-out-1-4b-in-federal-medicaid-funding-to-illegals\/\" target=\"_blank\">         <i class=\"mdi mdi-email\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><\/i>         <span class=\"visually-hidden\">Share Article via Email<\/span>       <\/a>     <\/li>\n<li class=\"article-share-email m-0\"><span class=\"printfriendly pf-button  pf-alignleft\"><a target=\"_blank\" href=\"http:\/\/thefederalist.com\/#\" rel=\"nofollow\" onclick=\"window.print(); return false;\" title=\"Printer Friendly, PDF &amp; Email\"><span id=\"printfriendly-text2\" class=\"pf-button-text\"><i class=\"mdi mdi-printer\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><\/i><\/span><\/a><\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul><\/div>\n<p>Five states and Washington, D.C., funneled more than $1.35 billion in federal taxpayer Medicaid funding to illegals, according to a preliminary audit of the program completed by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS).<\/p>\n<p>CMS Administrator Dr. Mehemet Oz <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/DrOzCMS\/status\/1984249538731745687\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">posted<\/a> the results of the preliminary audit on social media showing California, D.C., Illinois, Washington, Colorado, and Oregon spent millions each on illegals, with California spending the bulk, topping over $1.3 billion alone.<\/p>\n<div class=\"fdrlst__b89e9-paragraph-2 d-flex justify-content-center\" style=\"margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center; \" id=\"fdrlst__b89e9-831927774\">\n<div id=\"div-gpt-ad-1463670073398-0\" class=\"mb-30\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>That money, according to Oz, was spent &ldquo;just in the last few months.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>The left constantly <a href=\"https:\/\/ccf.georgetown.edu\/2025\/10\/02\/factchecking-on-medicaid-coverage-for-immigrants-government-shutdown-edition\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">claims<\/a> this does not, or even cannot, happen because it is against federal law to use programs like Medicaid &mdash; something meant for Americans &mdash; for illegals, but that small sample of states shows that states are defrauding the American people out of their own programs to the tune of billions of dollars.<\/p>\n<p>That claim is even more spurious considering the Democrats are only days away from breaking the all<a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3YuVZYV\" >-time longest government shutdown record<\/a> because they <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2025\/10\/09\/democrats-are-holding-the-government-hostage-to-get-taxpayer-funded-health-care-for-illegals\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">care more about funding health care for illegals than citizens of their own country<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;Some want to deny that illegal immigrants are receiving Medicaid. Others insist it&rsquo;s illegal for Medicaid to cover illegal immigrants. And others accurately point out that hospitals can provide emergency services to illegal immigrants under the program,&rdquo; Oz said, noting CMS is intending to have the money returned to them.<\/p>\n<p>States share Medicaid funding responsibilities with the federal government, and they administer the program independently. The law does not prohibit the states from using their own money to pay for illegals, just federal funding. (This exception provides a back door for federal tax dollars to de facto fund illegals, as money is fungible.)<\/p>\n<p>According to Oz, Democrats are so zealous about giving American money to illegals that even that massive loophole was not enough, stating, &ldquo;that didn&rsquo;t stop Democrats from going even further by breaking federal law to give illegal immigrants federal Medicaid dollars meant for American citizens.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;Whether willful or not, the states&rsquo; conduct highlights a terrifying reality: American taxpayers have been footing the bill for illegal immigrants&rsquo; Medicaid coverage, despite many Democrats and the media insisting otherwise,&rdquo; he added.<\/p>\n<p>The illegal immigrant burden on the health care system is massive, and it takes several different forms. Until the &ldquo;One Big Beautiful Bill&rdquo; (OBBB) was signed into law earlier this year, Medicaid providing care for foreigners added to that burden.<\/p>\n<p>However, as Oz points out, emergency rooms are required by federal law to treat anyone, no matter their financial circumstances or immigration status, because of the Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act (EMTALA).<\/p>\n<p>Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) operations seemed to have alleviated some of the pressure from certain emergency rooms notorious for being abused by illegal aliens, as The Federalist <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2025\/07\/22\/ice-is-helping-alleviate-pressure-on-americas-emergency-rooms\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">reported<\/a>, but Dr. Jared Ross, an <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/san-francisco-students-are-committing-suicide-at-an-alarming-rate-now-the-city-is-suing-its-schools\/\" title=\"San Francisco Students Are Committing Suicide At An Alarming Rate. Now The City Is Suing Its Schools.\">emergency room doctor<\/a>, said that illegals being kicked off Medicaid from the OBBB could have the unintended consequence of turning them toward emergency rooms instead of going to general practitioners using insurance.<\/p>\n<p>Reforms in the OBBB are necessary to stop American taxpayers and communities from having to deal with the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/ice-is-helping-alleviate-pressure-on-americas-emergency-rooms\/\" title=\"ICE Is Helping Alleviate Pressure On America&#039;s ...\">burden illegal aliens put<\/a> on their health programs and institutions, but another major avenue of reform will be altering EMTALA to limit illegal immigrants&rsquo; capacity to abuse the system.<\/p>\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator\">\n<div class=\"article-author-description fst-italic\">      Breccan F. Thies is the White House correspondent for The Federalist. He previously covered education and culture issues for the Washington Examiner and Breitbart News. He holds a degree from the University of Virginia and is a 2022 Claremont Institute Publius Fellow. You can follow him on X: @BreccanFThies.<\/div>\n<div class=\"article-author mt-30 mt-sm-60 pt-30 bdr-top-bold-black\">\n<div class=\"row g-0 align-items-center\">\n<div class=\"col-12 col-md-6\">\n<div class=\"article-author-profile d-flex align-items-center justify-content-center justify-content-md-start\">\n<div class=\"article-author-details\">\n<div class=\"label-md\">Breccan F. Thies<\/div>\n<div class=\"article-author-twitter label-sm d-flex align-items-center mt-10\">             <i class=\"mdi mdi-twitter me-5\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><\/i>             <span class=\"visually-hidden\">Visit on Twitter<\/span>            <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/BreccanFThies\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"text-decoration-none\">@BreccanFThies<\/a>           <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"col-12 col-md-6 d-flex justify-content-center justify-content-md-end mt-15 mt-md-0\">        <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/author\/breccan-thies\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">More Articles<\/a>     <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"article-tags bdr-top-black mt-30 mt-sm-60 pt-15 pt-md-45\">\n<ul class=\"list-unstyled d-flex flex-wrap align-items-center mb-0 mx-n10 p-0\">\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/california\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">California<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/centers-for-medicare-and-medicaid-services\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/cms\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">CMS<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/colorado\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">Colorado<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/emtala\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">emtala<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/illegal-immigration\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">Illegal Immigration<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/illinois\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">Illinois<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/medicaid\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">Medicaid<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/mehmet-oz\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">Mehmet Oz<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/oregon\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">Oregon<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/washington\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">Washington<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/washington-d-c\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">Washington D.C.<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Five states and D.C. funneled $1.35B+ in Medicaid funds to illegals<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":179,"featured_media":2505340,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Screenshot-2025-10-31-152400.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[33651],"tags":[36513,4606,3813,11975,42396],"class_list":["post-2505339","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-western-journal","tag-federal-funding","tag-healthcare","tag-immigration","tag-medicaid","tag-state-policy"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Screenshot-2025-10-31-152400.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2505339","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/179"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2505339"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2505339\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2505343,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2505339\/revisions\/2505343"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2505340"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2505339"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2505339"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2505339"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}