Michael Klinski
Michael Klinski
investigative reporter
michael.klinski@sdnewswatch.org

No.

Undocumented immigrants in the United States cannot receive free health care from the Affordable Care Act and Medicaid, according to the HealthCare.gov website and other sites. 

The only people eligible to receive care through ACA are U.S. citizens, U.S. nationals from American territories and “lawfully present migrants,” which include green card holders, refugees, those with official asylum status and others, though provisions in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act have added more restrictions.

Some Republicans say Democrats forced the federal shutdown in part to provide free health care to undocumented immigrants. But Democrats’ demands include extending marketplace tax credits that make plans more affordable and reverse Medicaid cuts, which undocumented immigrants are not eligible for.

Hospitals receive reimbursements for emergency care that is required to be provided to some undocumented immigrants. In the 2023 fiscal year, that was 0.4% ($3.8 billion) of Medicaid’s total budget.

This fact brief responds to conversations such as this one.

Sources

Healthcare.gov, Health care for immigrants

U.S. Immigration, U.S. Citizen vs. U.S. National: Differences

Kaiser Family Foundation (KFF), Rolling back the Big Beautiful Bill’s health care provisions would not provide health care to undocumented immigrants

KFF, Five key facts about immigrants and Medicaid


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This story was produced by South Dakota News Watch, an independent, nonprofit organization. Read more stories and donate at sdnewswatch.org and sign up for an email to get stories when they're published. Contact Michael Klinski at michael.klinski@sdnewswatch.org.