Democratic Tennessee congressional candidate Aftyn Behn promised on Monday to reinstate Medicaid spending for illegal immigrants if she is elected in her state’s special election.
Behn said during a virtual GOTV rally that she intended to reinstate Medicaid funding that was cut as a result of President Donald Trump’s big, beautiful bill that passed in July. Before the government shutdown began on Oct. 1, the Democrats’ proposed a continuing resolution (CR) which would have repealed the big, beautiful bill’s “Alien Medicaid eligibility” restriction, which only permits Medicaid coverage to non-citizens who are legal permanent residents or part of a certain group eligible for coverage.
“What I would do in Congress is to definitely restore Medicaid funding that was cut via the big, ugly bill. That is the lifeline for a lot of rural hospitals … But what we really need to do is deeply invest in these, like comprehensive support for rural healthcare systems,” Behn said.
Aftyn Behn says she would reinstate taxpayer funding for Medicaid for illegal immigrants that Republicans eliminated:
BEHN: “What I would do in Congress is definitely restore Medicaid funding that was cut…” pic.twitter.com/sF6a7Wlgvg
— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) December 2, 2025
Should Medicaid funding for illegal immigrants be reinstated in Tennessee?
Republicans argued in October that the Democrats’ proposal planned to make taxpayers spend $200 billion on healthcare services for illegal immigrants and non-citizens. The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) estimated in June that around 1.4 million non-citizens and illegal immigrants were being covered by Medicaid before the passage of the big, beautiful bill.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt pointed out in October that Medicaid spending for illegal immigrants nearly tripled under former President Joe Biden’s administration, when illegal border crossings also reached record-highs by surpassing 2 million and 3 million encounters in a single fiscal year.
In 2023, healthcare professionals in Southern California reported that the healthcare system had been “bombarded” with illegal immigrants and caused American citizen patients to endure longer wait times. Denver Health CEO Donna Lynne stated that 8,000 illegal immigrants made 20,000 health visits in 2023, causing the city’s health services to experience over $10 million in unpaid medical services.
California, Illinois and Minnesota all expanded their state healthcare coverage to include illegal immigrants, which caused each state to experience massive financial strains. California burned through $8.5 billion on immigrant health care in 2024, while Illinois had to spend about $800 million a year.
Behn is hoping to represent Tennessee’s 7th district, including parts of Nashville, following former Republican Tennessee Rep. Mark Green’s resignation. The Democratic candidate stated that she hated Nashville during her February 2020 appearance on the “Year old GRITS” podcast and called Tennessee “racist” in a 2019 op-ed. She further stormed into Republican Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee’s office and screamed as security dragged her out, resurfaced footage from 2019 showed.
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