Incoming House Energy and Commerce Chair Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WA) said in a statement on Monday that the committee will fight the Biden administration’s move to grant Obamacare access to illegal aliens in Washington state.
Ranking Member McMorris Rodgers said in a statement on Monday:
At a time when President Biden’s inflation crisis is already increasing the financial burdens on health care providers and families in Eastern Washington and across the nation, health care premiums and costs are rising substantially. Rather than using federal funds to mitigate some of these costs for health care providers and Washingtonians, Governor Inslee would rather spend it on undocumented immigrants. For example, I would recommend the Governor cover medical expenses for the staggering increase in innocent babies experiencing withdrawal from drug exposure which he is refusing. This waiver is a blatant misuse of taxpayer dollars, and Administrator Brooks-LaSure should have rejected it. Energy and Commerce Republicans will continue to fight against dangerous policies that prioritize those who are breaking the law over law abiding citizens.
McMorris Rodgers released her statement as the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the Treasury Department granted Washington state’s Affordable Care Act (ACA) a waiver to allow illegal aliens to purchase plans on the state’s health insurance exchange starting in 2024. This will likely expand access to the ACA, or Obamacare, to roughly 100,000 illegal aliens in the Evergreen State.
While illegal aliens in the state may not qualify for Obamacare subsidies, these aliens may receive state subsidies. Washington state has allocated $50 million to subsidize coverage for those at or below 250 percent of the federal poverty level.
The federal government’s approval of the ACA waiver follows government approval of a waiver for Colorado to provide illegal aliens access to its state health insurance exchange. Colorado has allocated $58 million to subsidize low-income illegal aliens, and roughly 5,700 illegal aliens have enrolled under the program, known as OmniSalud.
Reps. Ken Buck (R-CO), Lauren Boebert (R-CO), and Doug Lamborn (R-CO) have noted that the ACA, or Obamacare, explicitly prohibits prioritizing illegal aliens over Americans.
The lawmakers wrote in a letter in May: “The Federal health insurance exchange website is clear on this issue. It reads: ‘Undocumented immigrants aren’t eligible to buy Marketplace health coverage, or for premium tax credits and other savings on Marketplace plans.’”
As a congressman, then-Rep. and now HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra tried to push then-President Barack Obama to include benefits for illegal aliens in the ACA, but Obama decided not to include them in the landmark healthcare law.
During his State of the Union address in 2009, Obama claimed that illegal immigrants would not be eligible for the ACA. Rep. Joe Wilson (R-SC) screamed, “You lie!” during the address.
In 2021, then-HHS Secretary nominee Becerra said that Obamacare does not allow for illegal aliens to receive taxpayer benefits, including healthcare coverage.
“Where the law as it stands now as I see it, it does not allow those who are unauthorized in this country to receive taxpayer-paid benefits except in very rare circumstances,” Becerra said.
He added, “And it will be my job to make sure that we are following and enforcing the law.”
“HHS has a statutory obligation to prevent taxpayer resources from being used to finance health care for illegal aliens, and federal officials must be vigilant in confronting any such attempt to do so,” the Colorado Republicans concluded in their letter.
Sean Moran is a policy reporter for Breitbart News. Follow him on Twitter @SeanMoran3.
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