While Republicans push the argument that Democrats are leveraging the government shutdown to provide undocumented immigrants with health care, it’s legal immigrants who are about to lose coverage.
The Republican tax law passed earlier this year included multiple restrictions limiting lawfully present immigrants from accessing Medicaid, Medicare and the Obamacare marketplace. Some 1.4 million immigrants lawfully residing in the US are expected to lose coverage by 2034, a recent KFF analysis shows.
Democrats’ version of a stopgap funding measure would repeal those restrictions alongside substantial funding cuts to Medicaid. They also want to extend enhanced Affordable Care Act premium subsidies ...