Republican Sen. John Barrasso (R-WY) scrutinized Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Xavier Becerra for giving free healthcare to illegal immigrants who unlawfully come to the United States.
Barrasso pointed out that hospitals nationwide are struggling because of the overwhelming number of illegal aliens “flooding” emergency rooms while hard-working, taxpayer U.S. citizens are taking a backseat to health care at clinics.
The Republican grilled Becerra, asking why it is the American taxpayer’s job to foot the hospital bills for millions of illegal immigrants as they make their way into the country.
“These hospitals are now asking the federal government to bail them out, and it’s completely Democrat-caused failure to enforce the law at the southern border,” Barrasso said. “Can you please explain why it is the responsibility of hardworking American taxpayers to foot the bill for all of this care for people, 9 million now from all across the world, who have flooded their way into the United States?”
“Senator, I appreciate the question. What I can tell you is that we have extended the resources and the authorities that we have at HHS to try to be there to help any healthcare facility when there is a way that we can go in to be supportive,” Becerra replied. “I don’t know of a particular case that you might want to mention, but I know that we are prepared to be supportive of any facility where the authorities that you have given us allow us to go in and support.”
“Well, in terms of — it’s not hard to find stories about hospitals in one sanctuary city after another saying we are overwhelmed with the number of people who are treating and have no way to cover the costs other than turning to the American taxpayers,” the senator continued. “The federal government doesn’t pay for the healthcare of every legal U.S. citizen. It seems like it’s in the position now to do it for all these illegal immigrants. Why should American citizens be forced to pay for illegal migrants to receive this same care for free? Because that’s what’s happening.” Via the Daily Caller.
Becerra pointed out that hospitals across the country are overwhelmed with illegal immigrants who receive care but are not paying their bills. He noted that when this happens, hospitals are forced to shift the cost to the people who are paying.
Last year, Chicago admitted nearly 16,000 illegal immigrants into its hospitals, which cost American taxpayers more than $30 million.
In December, I reported that beginning in January 2024, Gov. Gavin Newsom (D-CA) announced that all illegal aliens would be eligible for taxpayer-funded healthcare in the state.
It was estimated that roughly 4.4 million illegal immigrants will qualify for Medi-Cal— California's state-funded version of the federal government's Medicaid program. Since 2015, only migrant children have been eligible for Medi-Cal.
