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No.
Watch the video version of this fact brief by Trisha Young.
Unauthorized immigrants are not eligible for traditional, federally funded Medicaid, which helps cover medical costs for low-income people.
They have never been eligible. A 1996 welfare reform law signed by Democratic President Bill Clinton also requires most authorized immigrants to wait five years for eligiblity.
Fourteen states, excluding Wisconsin, use state Medicaid funds to cover unauthorized immigrants.
President Donald Trump has proposed reducing federal Medicaid funds to those states. That would cause 1.4 million people to lose coverage, the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office estimated.
Medicaid costs nearly $900 billion annually, two-thirds from the federal government and one-third from the states.
In Wisconsin, Medicaid serves 1.28 million people, more than a third of them children. Among adults, 45% work full time, 28% part time. The annual cost is $12.1 billion, $4.2 billion of it in state spending.
While unauthorized immigrants can’t get Medicaid in Wisconsin, they can apply to receive emergency care covered by state Medicaid.
This fact brief is responsive to conversations such as this one.
Sources
- Georgetown University: The Truth About Medicaid Coverage for Immigrants – and the Looming Threats
- KFF: 5 Key Facts About Immigrants and Medicaid
- Medicaid.gov: Eligibility Policy
- U.S. Health and Human Services Department: What’s the difference between Medicare and Medicaid?
- Civic Media: Trump & Musk Implode While Republicans Gut Your Healthcare | Rep. Mark Pocan Explains the Truth
- Rolling Stone: Mike Johnson and Russ Vought Continue to Lie About Medicaid Cuts
- Truth Social: Donald Trump post
- KFF: Which States Would Be Affected by a House Proposal to Cut Federal Medicaid Funding for States That Cover Undocumented Immigrants?
- ABC News: What will Trump's 'big, beautiful bill' do to Medicaid and SNAP?
- Georgetown University: Factchecking The White House “Mythbuster” on Medicaid Cuts and Immigrants
- Congressional Budget Office: Letter
- Medicaid and CHIP Payment and Access Commission: Medicaid Spending by State, Category, and Source of Funds, FY 2023
- Congress.gov: H.R.3734 – Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996
- Wisconsin Department of Health Services: Medicaid: Health Care Coverage for Noncitizens
- Wisconsin Watch: Medicaid covers 1.2 million in Wisconsin. The election will determine its future
- KFF: Medicaid in Wisconsin
- Wisconsin Department of Health Services: Medicaid: Health Care Coverage for Noncitizens Frequently Asked Questions
- Congressional Research Service: Unauthorized Immigrants’ Eligibility for Federal and State Benefits: Overview and Resources
- Congress.gov: H.R.3734 – Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996
- Wisconsin Department of Health Services: ForwardHealth: BadgerCare Plus and Medicaid Emergency Services
- Wisconsin Department of Health Services: Frequently Asked Questions
- National Health Law Program Q and A: The Legal Immigrant Children’s Health Improvement Act
- National Health Law Program Medicaid Coverage of Emergency Medical Conditions: An Update
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