Aftyn Behn Promises To Reinstate Medicaid Spending For Illegal Immigrants On Taxpayers’ Dime

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 Before the government shutdown began on Oct. 1, the Democrats’ proposed a continuing resolution (CR) which would have repealed the big, beautiful bill’s “Alien Medicaid eligibility” restriction, which only permits Medicaid coverage to non-citizens who are legal permanent residents or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.

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