Title: Partly false claim: Seniors must pay for Medicare and supplemental insurance while ‘illegals get it all for free’ | Reuters
Headings: Partly false claim: Seniors must pay for Medicare and supplemental insurance while ‘illegals get it all for free’
Partly false claim: Seniors must pay for Medicare and supplemental insurance while ‘illegals get it all for free’
VERDICT

Content: Medicaid, which covers one in five Americans, is a government sponsored program that is intended to provide public health insurance to people with low income and limited resources, including those on Medicare ( here ). The eligibility criteria vary in each state ( here ). It is possible for undocumented immigrants to get free access to medical emergency treatment. Medicare-participating hospitals must provide stabilization and screening services to any patient with an emergency medical condition, regardless of ability to pay ( here ). Some locally funded programs also provide healthcare coverage to undocumented immigrants. Six states, including California and New York, and the District of Columbia use Medicaid state-only funds to cover low-income children regardless of their immigration status ( here ). California extended its healthcare coverage in 2019 and became the first state to use Medicaid funds to also cover young undocumented immigrants from the ages 19 to 25. Laws are in place to limit the U.S. taxpayers to paying for undocumented immigrants only in “extreme circumstances” ( here ). According to the Kaiser Family Foundation (KFF), these emergency costs represent 1% of the overall cost of Medicaid ( here ). Generally, undocumented immigrants face many hurdles to getting health care in the United States.