The government shutdown, now entering its third week, boils down in part to an argument on healthcare. The Democrats say they won’t vote for opening until Republicans agree to an extension of funds for Medicaid, scheduled to expire this year. The Republicans, joined by the White House, say some of those funds — in violation of federal law — would be directed to healthcare for illegals. The White House declared yesterday in an online post:
Democrats’ proposal would result in nearly $200 billion spent on healthcare for illegal immigrants and other non-citizens over the next decade — enough to fund the entire Children’s Health Insurance Program. . . .
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services administrator Dr. Mehmet Oz said today that an internal review has uncovered more than $1 billion in illegal Medicaid payments to illegal immigrants in several states. Oz said the investigations are still getting underway:
If you live in Texas or Florida, and you’re paying U.S. federal taxes – most people do – your money is being diverted to places like California who have robust benefits for illegal immigrants. Now we’re investigating it, and we’re [going to] continue to track this across the country. We will get all that money back into our federal coffers. The president is laser-focused on protecting the U.S. taxpayer.
For more, see Breitbart News.