Immigrants Illegally In U.S. Could Get MinnesotaCare Under DFL Bill

ST. PAUL, MN — A bill introduced by Democrats in the Minnesota House would allow immigrants living in the United States illegally to qualify for MinnesotaCare.

MinnesotaCare is the state government's health insurance program. The program is funded by tax dollars and provides health care to low-income families.

Income requirements for MinnesotaCare are different depending on the size of a person's household. For example, a family of four cannot qualify if they make more than $55,500.

And state law currently states that "undocumented noncitizens are ineligible for MinnesotaCare."

House File 1095 — authored by Democratic-Farmer-Labor Reps. Esther Agbaje and Sandra Feist — would end the requirement that enrollees of MinnesotaCare be U.S. citizens.

Democrats proposed a similar measure last year but it was blocked after opposition from Republicans and some businesses.

Opponents of the measure say the state should not use its funding to subsidize care for people living in the country illegally, and that doing so would put MinnesotaCare's existence in jeopardy.

Proponents of the measure say that people living illegally in the U.S. still have to pay taxes and also help reduce state workforce shortages.

The bill was introduced Monday and refereed to the Health Finance and Policy Committee.