ST. PAUL – Word appears to be getting around that free healthcare is available to illegal immigrants in Minnesota, as the number of people taking advantage of the taxpayer giveaway has already doubled in expected cost.
State Representative Tom Murphy (R-Underwood) said the program was projected to cost $196 million over four years. With current enrollment, that cost has exploded to an estimated $550 million, and that total continues to grow.
“It was nonsensical to provide free health insurance to people who are in Minnesota illegally to begin with,” Murphy said. “With Minnesota facing a $6 billion budget deficit and taxpayers wasting more than half a billion dollars on this unnecessary government freebie, it’s time to find better priorities.”
In 2023, a Democrat-led legislature and Governor Walz expanded MinnesotaCare eligibility to illegal immigrants. MinnesotaCare is a health coverage program for low-income individuals and families who do not have access to employee-sponsored health insurance and do not qualify for Medical Assistance (MA).
Murphy said the federal government typically pays 90% of the costs for enrollees in MinnesotaCare with the state covering the other 10%. But illegal immigrants don’t qualify for federal matching funds, meaning Minnesota taxpayers are being forced to cover 100% of these benefits.
According to the Minnesota Department of Health, 17,396 illegal immigrants are now enrolled in MinnesotaCare, more than twice the original estimate of 7,700. Murphy says that number is only going to escalate, along with future costs.