A concerned constituent recently sent me a text message regarding the escalating cost of providing medical care to illegal immigrants in the State of Minnesota. Here’s what’s currently in place: In the 2023 Health and Human Services budget bill, illegal immigrants were granted free coverage under MinnesotaCare. The estimated cost for this over the next four years is $220 million, and the number of estimated enrollees was just over 5,000 individuals. Alarmingly, in the first three months of enrollment, over 17,000 individuals qualified, more than three times the original estimate.

With this surge in applicants, what will the total cost of the program be? We can estimate based on enrollment in the first three months of the program that this will end up costing Minnesota taxpayers over $600 million. What would $600 million do to help our pending $6 billion deficit? It would substantially reduce the cuts to our seniors and individuals with disabilities. It would also reduce the shifting of current state financial responsibilities to counties. At the end of the day, it would make a major difference in the lives of Minnesota citizens!

How will the state pay for this health care coverage? They will take it out of the Health Care Access Fund, which is funded by the Provider Tax of 1.8% on every health care transaction in Minnesota. Oh, by the way, they are proposing to raise that tax to 2%. In other words, the people of Minnesota will end up paying more to subsidize health care for illegal immigrants.

This points to mismanagement within the state that has persisted across various departments. It is a problem that continues to be routinely excused by too many people in charge. This goes to show that Minnesota Democrats in the legislature are prioritizing benefits for illegal immigrants over services and protections for Minnesota’s most vulnerable citizens.

We need to put Minnesotans first.

Bill Weber, State Senator

SD 21