House Speaker Mike Johnson, right, accused Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, left, of prioritizing "free healthcare for illegal aliens" over paying U.S. troops. (Kent Nishimura/Bloomberg via Getty Images; Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images)
"They want to have illegal aliens come into our country and get massive healthcare at the cost to everybody else, and we don't have it. And that’s, I would say, the number one reason that they want to strike is to get illegal immigrants’ healthcare," Trump told reporters in the Oval Office on Tuesday, as he said Republicans are not responsible for the looming government shutdown.
"Democrats are about to shut down the government because they demand we fund healthcare for illegal aliens," Vice President JD Vance posted on X last week. Johnson added on Sunday that Schumer wants to "reinstate free healthcare for illegal aliens paid by American taxpayers."
JD VANCE SAYS GOVERNMENT LIKELY 'HEADED INTO A SHUTDOWN' AFTER TRUMP MEETS WITH DEMS
Schumer and congressional Democrats, however, have labeled the issue the "Republican healthcare crisis," and placed the onus of a government shutdown on Trump and the GOP. The top Senate Democrat rejected Republican's claims that they were trying to allow illegal immigrants onto federal health care rolls ahead of the vote to fund the government.
"They say that undocumented people are going to get these credits," Schumer said. "That is absolutely false. That is one of the big lies that they tell."
Republicans have seized on Democrats’ efforts to roll back Medicaid reform included in Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA), which narrowly passed through Congress earlier this year.
As lawmakers debate a government funding extension, Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, R-La., awaits a meeting at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C., on Wednesday, Sept. 17, 2025. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
Obamacare, meanwhile, allowed for states to expand their Medicaid populations with the federal government matching 90% of the costs of that expanded population. States that took that expansion and also provide healthcare funding for illegal immigrants are due to receive less federal funding under OBBBA, with that cost-sharing margin going from 90% to 80%.
And while illegal immigrants do not qualify for Medicaid and Medicare, Emergency Medicaid reimbursements allow hospitals to recoup the cost of emergency care for people who would be eligible for Medicaid if they had legal status. The OBBBA limits those federal dollars, however, to just allow for the state's regular FMAP share.
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While ACA subsidies aren't set to expire until the end of this year, Democrats warned that insurers were set to send out new guidance and rates on Wednesday. They charged that on average, premium costs for people enrolled on Obamacare that use the credits would go up by an average of 114%.
Deirdre Heavey is a politics writer for Fox News Digital.
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/gop-accuses-dems-risking-shutdown-restore-illegal-immigrant-healthcare