Trump administration aims to claw back $1 billion in Medicaid spent on illegal aliens

The Trump administration plans to claw back more than $1 billion in federal funds being spent on Medicaid for illegal immigrants in blue states. 

A preliminary audit from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) found that California, Washington, D.C., Colorado, Washington, Illinois and Oregon had misused $1,351,204,127 on healthcare for illegal aliens during the past few years. 

While using federal Medicaid dollars for this purpose is prohibited, Democrat leaders are using loopholes in federal laws to use funds for emergency treatment of patients regardless of their immigration status. 

According to the CMS, California was responsible for a sizable amount of the abuse of funds, paying over $1 billion on healthcare for illegal aliens.

Illinois spent the second-highest amount ($30 million) followed by Oregon ($5.5 million). 

"Protecting Medicaid from waste, fraud and abuse isn’t optional. It’s the law. Every dollar misspent on illegal healthcare spending is a dollar taken from vulnerable Americans," CMS spokesperson Emily Hilliard told Fox News Digital. 

"Federal law forbids using Medicaid funds for illegal immigrants, yet several Democrat-led states did it anyway. The Trump administration won’t tolerate it. CMS is auditing aggressively, recovering every dollar and holding states accountable."