Illegal immigrants have cost American taxpayers more than $7 billion through Medicaid. That’s not a guess. That’s not an exaggeration. That’s a hard fact backed up by real numbers and real abuse of our system. As a veteran, I’ve seen what happens when government forgets who it’s supposed to serve. And right now, it’s choosing illegal immigrants over American citizens, especially over the very people who put on the uniform and swore an oath to defend this country.
The Medicaid program was built to help low-income Americans—citizens and legal residents—get medical care when they need it most. It was never meant to be a blank check for people who broke the law to sneak into our country. But thanks to blue states like California, New York, and Illinois, that’s exactly what it’s become.
In 2023, California alone spent nearly $4 billion in Medicaid funds on illegal immigrants. The kicker? About 70% of that was paid for by the federal government. That means folks in Texas, Florida, and across the heartland were forced to pay for California’s decision to give health benefits to people who aren’t even supposed to be here.
And California didn’t stop there. They used a sneaky trick to make it worse. They raised taxes on hospitals and nursing homes, then used that money to jack up their Medicaid spending on paper. That made it look like they were spending more, so they could get even more federal dollars—your dollars—to cover the costs. New York and Illinois copied the same playbook. In 2024, New York dropped $2.4 billion to give full Medicaid benefits to illegal immigrants under 65. Illinois opened the doors for those over 42. None of this was approved by taxpayers nationwide—but we all got stuck with the bill.
Let’s be clear: this isn’t just about a few people slipping through the cracks. This is a full-blown scam. Across the country, at least five million people who shouldn’t be on Medicaid are still receiving benefits. That’s not a small glitch. That’s a $30 billion-a-year problem. Over the past decade, more than $1.1 trillion has been wasted through Medicaid fraud, duplicate payments, and poor oversight.
Between 2019 and 2021, insurance companies collected more than $4 billion in duplicate payments. That’s money that could have gone to veterans needing care, to seniors on fixed incomes, or to working families struggling to make ends meet. Instead, it got flushed down the drain while illegal immigrants and crooked states lined their pockets.
President Trump’s administration fought back with the Big Beautiful Bill—a law that finally put some guardrails on this madness. It closed the loophole that let states shift the cost of illegal immigrant health care to the federal government. It banned the shady recycling of provider taxes. It cracked down on fraud, enforced stronger reporting rules, and made sure Medicaid stayed focused on the people who earned it.
But Democrats didn’t like that. Now they’re throwing a fit and keeping Washington shut down until they can undo those reforms. They say they’re defending health care. But what they’re really doing is defending Medicaid for people who broke our laws, while American citizens get pushed to the back of the line.
This isn’t a partisan issue. It’s a matter of respect—for our laws, for our tax dollars, and for the people who built this country and fought to keep it free. Veterans know what sacrifice looks like. We see the cost of freedom up close. And it makes our blood boil to watch politicians hand out benefits to those who haven’t earned them while ignoring the needs of our own.
Medicaid is meant to be a safety net—not a magnet for illegal immigration. It’s time to secure the program, protect the taxpayer, and put Americans first. That’s not cruelty. That’s common sense. And it’s long overdue.
