Photo: Alamy
Details regarding spending reform within the One Big Beautiful Bill are being clarified following its passage in the Senate on Tuesday. America First voters are especially opposed to illegal immigrants being allowed to receive Medicaid benefits under the previous Biden Administration’s lax immigration policy.
Senator Eric Schmitt, R-Mo., put those concerns to bed by posting a long explanation on X, which proves that, “The Big Beautiful Bill kicks 1.4 MILLION illegal immigrants off Medicaid.”
He clarified, “Yesterday, there were a lot of rumors floating around about the ban on Medicaid for illegal aliens being stripped from the bill. Thankfully, that’s not true. It’s very much in the bill we just passed.”
Page 602. Section 77109. of the bill is available through Punchbowl News with current amendments included. The section in question states that no Medicaid payments will be made to states unless the individual claiming benefits is a United States citizen or a legal immigrant lawfully permitted for legal residence, or a legal refugee.
The White House released a Myth vs. Fact sheet to help clarify the bill’s intent. It noted that no American citizen will lose properly obtained Medicaid benefits. “The One Big Beautiful Bill removes illegal aliens, enforces work requirements, and protects Medicaid for the truly vulnerable.”
While those in favor of open border policies misleadingly decry the bill for taking Medicaid away from people, it only takes it away from those who are ineligible and abused the system in the first place.
Schmitt pointed out in his X thread that the rumor originated from an amendment solely designed to ban Medicaid for illegal immigrants being voted down. A clip of the outcome circulated online, but didn’t tell the entire story, as the provision was already included in the bill.
He explained, “That was just one of many ‘messaging amendments,’ designed to force Democrats to vote against specific provisions—in this case, a ban on some Medicaid funding for illegal aliens who commit heinous crimes—on the record.”
“It was meant to show the public how radical they are,” he added.
Schmitt then reiterated, “The ban itself was ALREADY in the bill. It was never taken out. And it wasn’t just a ban on some Medicaid for illegal immigrants who commit heinous crimes—it applies to ALL Medicaid for ALL illegal immigrants. (And most noncitizens generally).”
In addition, he wrote that the One Big Beautiful Bill now requires citizenship verification to receive benefits and ends the automatic enrollment of Medicaid for the children of illegal aliens and DACA.
He added that 14 states provide taxpayer-funded government healthcare benefits to individuals, regardless of their citizenship status. This amounts to about 1.4 million people receiving Medicaid benefits who are not legal taxpayers.
“The Big Beautiful Bill ends that arrangement by restricting Medicaid eligibility,” he declared.
