The Minnesota Senate today approved House File 1, a bill to end taxpayer-funded health care for adult illegal immigrants. Senator Mark Koran (R–North Branch), a co-author of the legislation, supported sunsetting the 2023 law that extended full MinnesotaCare coverage to illegal immigrants beginning in January 2025.

“Our job is to prioritize Minnesotans and make life more affordable and health care more accessible for the people who live and work here legally,” Sen. Koran said. “We shouldn’t be handing out free benefits to those here illegally while cutting services for seniors and people with disabilities, all while facing a $6 billion budget deficit. That’s not compassion, it’s cruelty disguised as virtue.”

Senate Republicans have consistently raised concerns about the program’s ballooning costs. Since its launch in January, more than 20,000 illegal immigrants have enrolled, more than triple the original estimate of 5,874. While the program was initially forecasted to cost $220 million, current enrollment trends were set to push that figure past $600 million.

Unlike other public health programs that receive federal matching funds such as those for nursing homes, the disabled, or low-income residents, MinnesotaCare coverage for illegal immigrants is 100% funded by state taxpayers.