On Thursday, U.S. Senator John Barrasso (R-Wyo.) joined U.S. Senators Bill Cassidy (R-La.), Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.), Roger Wicker (R-Miss.) and Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-Miss.) in introducing legislation to ensure taxpayer dollars are not used to subsidize Medicaid benefits for illegal immigrants.
The Protect Medicaid Act prohibits federal money from being spent on administering state Medicaid benefits paid for by American citizens to noncitizens. If a state chooses to give Medicaid benefits to illegal residents, the bill will ensure it is entirely on the state’s dime, without costs to taxpayers in other states.
“President Biden and the Democrats want to offer incentive after incentive for illegal immigrants to cross our southern border,” said Senator Barrasso. “American taxpayers should never foot the bill for Biden’s handouts to those who break the law. Our bill stops liberal states from abusing Medicaid and using the money of hardworking Americans on illegal immigrants. Republicans will continue to fight against radical policies that fail to secure our border and keep the homeland safe.”
The Protect Medicaid Act requires the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Office of Inspector General (OIG) to review and report on:
- How states that provide Medicaid services to illegal immigrants keep federal and state dollars separate.
- Whether states providing health benefits to illegal immigrants use gimmicks that rip off the federal government, like provider taxes and intergovernmental transfers, to launder federal dollars to offset the cost of providing benefits to this population.
- Whether people in the country illegally benefit from covered outpatient drugs purchased under the Medicaid Drug Rebate Program and the 340B program, and whether this impacts the prices American citizens pay.
Full text of the legislation can be found here.
