Connecticut has spent at least $80 million in state funds over the past two years providing health care coverage for children and expectant or postpartum mothers who lack legal immigration status.
This expenditure provides direct context to the raging national debate and current federal government shutdown, which high-ranking Republicans claim was triggered by Democrats seeking billions in funding for health care for immigrants without legal status.
Connecticut is one of 14 states utilizing state funds to cover health care for immigrants who are ineligible for traditional federal Medicaid programs.
State-funded coverage, initiated in 2021, initially covered children up to age 8, prenatal care, and 12 months of postpartum care. Through subsequent legislative actions, coverage for children was expanded to age 15, effective July 1, 2024, reports CT Insider.
The expansion has led to sharply higher-than-expected costs and enrollment figures. When eligibility was raised to age 15, projected enrollment was 7,000 children, but actual sign-ups surpassed 15,000 children.
Currently, about 15,000 children and 3,000 postpartum individuals are receiving coverage under the state’s HUSKY B program, reports the website which is produced by the Connecticut Post and the New Haven Register.
This higher utilization contributed significantly to state budget strain, including a $284 million shortfall in the state Medicaid program in the last fiscal year.
Of that deficit, $32 million was specifically attributed to health care costs for immigrants lacking legal status. The State Office of Policy and Management is now projecting a further $100 million shortfall in the Medicaid account due to rising costs and utilization.
Specific state spending details show $29 million was spent on coverage for children, $11 million for postpartum care, and $6.3 million for prenatal care, according to one lawmaker’s accounting.
The Connecticut spending data underscores the deeply politicized national conflict over immigrant health care that is tied to the current government impasse.
House Minority Leader Vincent Candelora, R-North Branford, aligned with President Donald Trump and Congressional Republicans, asserting that Democrats intentionally created the shutdown impasse by putting funding for illegal immigrant health care on the table. Candelora also expressed concern that such policies are unaffordable and compromise hospital solvency, noting that the state is only reimbursing hospitals 67 cents on the dollar for these services.
Democrats, however, deny the charge that they forced the shutdown over this issue, claiming they are focused on extending Affordable Care Act (ACA) tax credits and reversing cuts to Medicaid programs—programs for which immigrants without legal status are already ineligible.
Despite the mounting financial pressures and the national political climate, Governor Ned Lamont remains committed to the state-funded coverage, arguing that the state cannot allow undocumented children to be sick on the streets.
Meanwhile, advocates in Connecticut continue to push for broader expansion, with one recent study estimating that extending HUSKY eligibility to all ineligible immigrants could cost approximately $250 million annually.