Minnesota GOP targets health care for undocumented immigrants

ST PAUL, Minn. — As budget discussions continue at the Minnesota Capitol, GOP House and Senate members have honed in on a target: state-sponsored health care for undocumented immigrants.

“Republicans don’t believe that we should be spending hundreds of millions of dollars on taxpayer-funded health care for illegal immigrants,” said Sen. Jordan Rasmusson ( R-Fergus Falls).

The proposed GOP bill would restrict undocumented immigrants from obtaining state-funded public services through the low-income health program known as MinnesotaCare, something that went into effect in January.

“We’re talking about people who pay $220 million in taxes in the state,” argued Sen. Alice Mann (DFL – Edina). “We’re talking about our neighbors, people we go to work with, people who go to school with our children. We are all residents of the state of Minnesota.”

The Minnesota Department of Human Services projects the program will cost $200 million over four years. However, the State DHS says in the first quarter of this year, more than 17,000 undocumented immigrants enrolled in the program when the estimation in this time frame was 5,700.

“When we give people access to health care that is covered and paid for, hospitals can take that money and provide services again, keeping our health care system healthier and more robust,” said Sen. Mann. She argues that the resolution is purely political, and scapegoats a group of people who didn’t create the problem.

Senator Rasmusson says his concern is that the program is attracting undocumented immigrants to come to Minnesota for the benefits.

“If we don’t address it this session, by next year, this could even create a bigger hole in our state budget,” Rasmusson said.

According to the State DHS, even though more than 17,000 undocumented immigrants have enrolled, as of April 1, only 3,378 had any claims for healthcare services. The DHS says the February 2025 budget forecast projected expenditures of $3.0 million in the first three months of calendar year 2025, and actual expenditures were $3.3 million.

“Based on the first three months of enrollment, actual spending is in line with the February forecast, which also projected expenditures of approximately $200 million in FY 2025-28,” the DHS said to KARE 11 in a statement. “To this point, there is no evidence to suggest expenditures will be significantly higher going forward. However, three months of data are not adequate to reliably predict expenditures for the next four years. Several additional months of actual expenditure data for this population will be available for the November 2025 forecast.”

The HF10 legislation would also make undocumented immigrants ineligible for the North Star Promise scholarship program.

Minnesota is one of only three states to provide public health care coverage to undocumented residents regardless of age. The other two are Oregon and California.