“Democrats are threatening to close down all the authorities as a result of they need to give a whole bunch of billions of {dollars} of well being care advantages to unlawful aliens.”
Vice President JD Vance in a Sept. 28, 2025, Fox Information interview
Because the U.S. headed for a authorities shutdown, Republicans repeatedly accused Democrats of forcing the closure as a result of they need to give well being care entry to immigrants within the U.S. illegally.
“Democrats are threatening to close down all the authorities as a result of they need to give a whole bunch of billions of {dollars} of well being care advantages to unlawful aliens,” Vice President JD Vance stated Sept. 28 on “Fox Information Sunday.”
President Donald Trump, Home Speaker Mike Johnson, and Republican members of Congress have repeated this line.
It’s fallacious.
Democrats have refused to vote for Republicans’ decision to increase the federal spending deadline, and their place does, partly, hinge on well being care spending. Democrats need to prolong covid pandemic-era Reasonably priced Care Act subsidies which might be set to run out on the finish of the 12 months and roll again Medicaid cuts within the tax and spending invoice that Trump signed into regulation this summer season.
The Democrats’ proposal wouldn’t give well being care to immigrants who lack authorized standing; that inhabitants is already largely ineligible for federally funded well being care. As an alternative, the proposal would restore entry to sure well being care applications for legally current immigrants who will lose entry underneath the Republican regulation.
The White Home didn’t reply to PolitiFact’s request for remark for this reality test. Vance addressed criticism of his speaking level in one other interview by saying it was included within the Democrats’ spending proposal. It’s not.
A White Home X account adopted up with screenshots of the Democratic proposal repealing a piece of the Republican regulation labeled “alien Medicaid eligibility.” It’s vital to know that these modifications wouldn’t give Medicaid entry to immigrants who lack lawful standing.
Vance defended his assertion once more in an Oct. 1 White Home press convention, saying former President Joe Biden “waived away unlawful immigration standing” that helped migrants entry federal help. It’s vital to notice that many individuals granted lawful standing by means of humanitarian parole or Non permanent Protected Standing applications don’t routinely qualify for Medicaid; TPS recipients aren’t eligible, and many individuals who entered the U.S. on humanitarian parole are required to attend 5 years earlier than accessing it.
The Trump administration has ended humanitarian parole and Non permanent Protected Standing for many individuals, rendering them ineligible for Medicaid and well being plans on the Reasonably priced Care Act market.
We didn’t discover proof that Democrats need to spend “a whole bunch of billions” in prices for insuring migrants with illegal presence.
Immigrants Missing Authorized Standing Are Already Ineligible
Most federal well being care {dollars} can’t be spent on well being look after folks within the U.S. who lack authorized standing. They can’t enroll in Medicaid or Medicare, and they’re ineligible to buy well being care protection by means of the Reasonably priced Care Act market. A small Medicaid program reimburses hospitals for uninsured emergency care, which might embrace immigrants within the nation with out authorization however is just not unique to them.
States reminiscent of California and Illinois expanded Medicaid protection for folks no matter their immigration standing, and the states pay for that. Federal regulation already banned states from utilizing federal cash for these applications. An earlier model of the Republican spending regulation would have penalized such states by withholding funding, however that provision didn’t final.
Individuals within the nation with out permission may obtain some federally funded well being care in emergency instances; in these conditions, hospitals should present care even when an individual is uninsured or within the nation illegally. Emergency Medicaid covers hospital look after immigrants who can be eligible for Medicaid if not for his or her immigration standing. The Republican tax and spending regulation decreased the quantity hospitals can obtain for emergency immigrant care.
Most Emergency Medicaid spending is used on childbirth. In all, it represented lower than 1% of complete Medicaid spending in fiscal 12 months 2023, in keeping with KFF, a well being info nonprofit that features KFF Well being Information.
GOP Regulation Restricted Care Entry for Immigrants With Authorized Standing
The Republican tax and spending regulation made a number of modifications to well being care eligibility for immigrants dwelling within the nation with permission. An estimated 1.4 million authorized immigrants are anticipated to lose their medical insurance, in keeping with a KFF evaluation of Congressional Finances Workplace projections.
Beginning October 2026, the regulation will prohibit eligibility for Medicaid and the Youngsters’s Well being Insurance coverage Program to lawfully everlasting residents, folks from the Marshall Islands, Micronesia, or Palau who lawfully reside within the U.S. underneath an worldwide settlement, and sure Cubans and Haitians.
Beforehand, a broad group, described as “certified noncitizens,” was eligible for Medicaid and its associated Youngsters’s Well being Insurance coverage Program, often called CHIP, together with refugees and other people granted asylum.
Some immigrants eligible for Medicaid and CHIP, reminiscent of lawful everlasting residents, are required to attend 5 years earlier than accessing the advantages.
The regulation additionally restricted Reasonably priced Care Act market eligibility to the identical group eligible for Medicaid and CHIP starting Jan. 1, 2027. Beforehand, individuals who had been described as “lawfully current” had been eligible. That group included the “certified noncitizens” eligible for Medicaid and other people with short-term statuses, reminiscent of Non permanent Protected Standing or worldwide college students.
Beneficiaries of the Deferred Motion for Childhood Arrivals program, often called DACA, for immigrants who entered the U.S. with out authorization as kids had been beforehand eligible for Reasonably priced Care Act protection and its subsidies. They’re ineligible since a Trump administration rule took impact in August.
Democrats’ Proposal Would Restore Authorized Immigrants’ Entry
The Democrats’ Sept. 17 price range proposal would, partly, completely prolong the Reasonably priced Care Act subsidies and roll again billions in Republican cuts to Medicaid and different well being applications.
The change would make Medicaid, CHIP, and Reasonably priced Care Act protection out there to all authorized immigrants who had been beforehand eligible for it, reminiscent of refugees and other people granted asylum.
The Democratic proposal wouldn’t broaden eligibility to federally funded well being care applications to immigrants missing authorized standing.
Vance stated the Democratic insurance policies would “give a whole bunch of billions of {dollars} of well being care advantages to unlawful aliens,” and the White Home didn’t supply its supply for that determine. When Johnson was pressed to assist an identical speaking level, he referenced the Congressional Finances Workplace. The KFF evaluation of CBO estimates discovered that the Republican regulation’s provisions associated to authorized immigrants would scale back federal spending by $131 billion; this projection didn’t embrace an estimate for folks with out authorized standing.
Our Ruling
Vance stated, “Democrats are threatening to close down all the authorities as a result of they need to give a whole bunch of billions of {dollars} of well being care advantages to unlawful aliens.”
Immigrants within the U.S. illegally are largely ineligible for the federally funded well being care applications Medicare and Medicaid, they usually can not search protection within the Reasonably priced Care Act market or apply for subsidies.
The Democrats’ price range proposal wouldn’t change that.
The Democrats need to restore entry to sure well being care applications to authorized immigrants who will lose entry underneath the Republican tax and spending regulation — amongst different measures aimed toward making Medicaid and Reasonably priced Care Act insurance coverage simpler to maintain.
Their proposal wouldn’t grant federally supported well being care advantages to folks within the U.S. illegally, as a result of they didn’t have entry to them within the first place. The small quantity of funding designated for Emergency Medicaid reimburses hospitals that present emergency care to immigrants who can be eligible for Medicaid if not for his or her immigration standing. Lastly, we didn’t discover proof for Vance’s assertion that Democrats need “a whole bunch of billions” in well being advantages for migrants within the nation illegally.
We charge the assertion False.
Our Sources
Fox Information, “JD Vance Slams ‘Preposterous’ Claims on Comey Indictment: ‘Lied Beneath Oath’, Sept. 28, 2025.
The White Home, “President Trump Delivers an Announcement,” Sept. 30, 2025.
President Donald Trump, Fact Social publish, Sept. 29, 2025.
U.S. Home of Representatives invoice, accessed Oct. 1, 2025.
Congressional Finances Workplace, “Distributional Results of Public Regulation 119-21,” Aug. 11, 2025.
PolitiFact, “Newsom Championed Medicaid for Immigrants in California Illegally. Now He Desires To Lower It Again,” Could 16, 2025.
KFF, “Well being Provisions within the 2025 Federal Finances Reconciliation Invoice,” July 8, 2025.
KFF, “Potential Impacts of 2025 Finances Reconciliation on Well being Protection for Immigrant Households,” June 17, 2025.
KFF, “Key Information on Well being Protection of Immigrants,” Jan. 15, 2025.
KFF, “1.4 Million Lawfully Current Immigrants Are Anticipated To Lose Well being Protection As a result of 2025 Tax and Finances Regulation,” Sept. 25, 2025.
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Providers, “Info for SAVE Customers: Cuban-Haitian Entrants,” accessed Oct. 1, 2025.
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Providers, “Standing of Residents of the Freely Related States of the Federated States of Micronesia and the Republic of the Marshall Islands Reality Sheet,” accessed Oct. 1, 2025.
Healthcare.gov, “Protection for Lawfully Current Immigrants,” accessed Oct. 1, 2025.
Federal Register, “Affected person Safety and Reasonably priced Care Act; Market Integrity and Affordability,” June 25, 2025.
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