(The Lion) — Three blue states have abruptly reversed course on free health care for illegal immigrants. Each state is led by a governor rumored to be a 2028 presidential contender or who participated in the last presidential election.
Illinois, led by Democrat Gov. JB Pritzker, who is likely running for his party’s nomination for president in 2028, plans to end the health benefits for illegals by the end of June, WTTW news reported.
Illinois previously extended health benefits to illegal aliens, 65 and older, before Pritzker extended the program to cover all adults, thanks in part to pandemic-era federal funding. An audit of the program found it cost $485.3 million over the two years of the expansion – 284% more than expected, reported Capitol News Illinois (CNI).
The elimination of the health care program for illegals will save more than $400 million for Illinois, which is facing a $3.2 billion budget deficit due to health care and state pension costs.
Likewise, Minnesota is facing a structural budget deficit projected at $6 billion over the next three years.
Gov. Tim Walz, who was the Democratic vice presidential nominee in 2024, was forced to agree to cut the subsidies under Minnesota’s health care regime, MinnesotaCare, which he also extended for illegal immigrants.
Like the Illinois program, the number of enrollees was far more than lawmakers admitted when Minnesota passed the legislation and Walz signed it in 2023, reported the Minnesota Star Tribune.
“That was something we looked at fiscally that could not go on,” Minnesota GOP House Speaker Lisa Demuth told reporters about the money spent on illegal immigrant health care.
Demuth said Republicans have been warning for years that the budget was on a dangerous trajectory.
“Democrats ignored those warnings from Republicans,” she added.
Then last week, California Gov. Gavin Newsom, also a likely Democratic presidential contender, proposed cutting back on health care benefits for illegal immigrants.
California, like Minnesota and Illinois, is facing a multibillion-dollar deficit, reported NBC News.
Newsom didn’t propose ending all health care subsidies for illegal immigrants but suggested that the state would freeze enrollment this year, said NBC.
In budget documents announcing an anticipated $12 billion shortfall, Newsom’s office referred to illegal immigrants as those adults with “unsatisfactory immigration status,” said CBS News.
In California, illegal immigrant health care cost $2.7 billion more than taxpayers were told when the program was expanded, said the Associated Press.
Newsom’s actions come as polls show Californians aren’t impressed with Democrat policies on illegal immigrants.
A Napolitan News/RMG Research survey of 800 registered California voters found that 60% of those polled think illegal immigrants should not get free health benefits and 72% think illegal immigration is harmful to the country, reported Newsweek.
A new bill from the GOP in the U.S. House seeks to pull federal money from states which offer free health care for illegal immigrants, which include four others in addition to Illinois, Minnesota and California.
