() The White House has posted a “mythbuster” fact sheet defending its proposed Medicaid changes in President Donald Trump’s “big beautiful bill” but is it accurate?
The nearly 1,000-page megabill outlines the removal of “at least 1.4 million” immigrants who are in the United States unlawfully from Medicaid, the administration said.
According to the White House, doing so would strengthen Medicaid for “the American citizens for whom the program was designed pregnant women, children, people with disabilities, low-income seniors, and other vulnerable low-income families.”
That’s not entirely true.
Can illegal immigrants join Medicaid?
No, immigrants who have entered and remained in the U.S. illegally are not eligible for Medicaid.
Although they might benefit from some of its services including emergency care they aren’t eligible for federally funded Medicaid coverage.
The Congressional Budget Office and research organizations such as the Kaiser Family Foundation and Georgetown University’s McCourt School of Public Policy corroborate these restrictions.
The White House’s 1.4 million estimate appears to refer to those with questionable immigration status who will lose coverage due to reductions in state health care programs currently providing them with assistance.
These programs are funded by the states, not through federal Medicaid dollars.
Emergency care available for undocumented patients
Some emergency services provided by hospitals are available to people lacking a Medicaid-eligible immigration status.
Services include “those requiring immediate attention to prevent death, serious harm or disability, although states have some discretion to determine reimbursable services,” according to the KFF.
The foundation estimated emergency care for undocumented patients accounted for less than 1% of Medicaid spending from 2017 to 2023.
What does ‘big, beautiful bill’ plan for Medicaid?
Trump and most congressional Republicans claim the reductions aren’t true cuts, arguing that no one who should be on Medicaid will lose benefits.
“We’re cutting $1.7 trillion in this bill, and you’re not going to feel any of it,” Trump said at the White House last week.
But experts and health advocates say a recent CBO analysis confirms that despite Trump’s repeated pledges to only cut waste, fraud and abuse in Medicaid, the legislation would enact an unprecedented reduction in the program currently used by more than 70 million low-income Americans.
“This bill isn’t being crafted to improve health care in America, or to improve the Medicaid program, or to improve the [ACA]. The purpose of these cuts in the bill is to try to find savings to pay for tax cuts,” said Andrea Ducas, vice president of health policy at the Democratic-aligned Center for American Progress.
partner The Hill contributed to this report.
