Three states that offer health coverage to undocumented immigrants are sunsetting or limiting those benefits.
House Republicans’ proposed budget reconciliation package also includes provisions to penalize states financially if they provide Medicaid benefits to noncitizen residents by reducing their ACA expansion matching rate. Seven states and Washington, D.C. offer health coverage to noncitizen adults and children.
Illinois will end a program July 1 that provides health coverage to more than 30,000 noncitizens who were ineligible for Medicaid, WTTW reported. Launched in 2021, the program covers individuals aged 42 to 64. The program is being discontinued because it exceeded the state’s original cost estimates.
Minnesota is eliminating undocumented immigrants’ eligibility to enroll in the state’s Medicaid program, MinnesotaCare, at the end of 2025 as part of a budget deal. Eligibility began in 2025, and will only continue for children.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom and the state’s legislature are proposing freezing enrollment for undocumented immigrants in the state’s Medicaid program as it faces large budget shortfalls. A proposed budget published would freeze enrollment of undocumented immigrants ages 19 and older in Medi-Cal. It would also impose $30 monthly premiums for immigrants without legal status who remain in the program starting in mid-2027, and roll back long-term care and dental benefits for these enrollees.
