House Republicans demand health care and Medicaid data from Colorado 

Congressional Republicans are demanding answers from Colorado about how much money they’ve spent on Medicaid programs since 2019 for people unauthorized to be in the country.

In a letter sent Wednesday to Gov. Jared Polis and the state agency that administers Medicaid, House Republicans from the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform asked for detailed information about the “state and local programs that provide health coverage and other services for illegal aliens.”

Specifically, they’re demanding lists and information, dating back to 2019, about costs associated with operations and medical procedures done on people unauthorized to be in the country. They asked for the number of individuals denied Medicaid due to unsatisfactory immigration status, a list of every procedure performed on unauthorized immigrants and “all documents and communications” related to Colorado’s charity care programs for immigrants.

In addition to Colorado, letters were sent to seven other Democratic governors, including Minnesota, Illinois and New York.

The letter reads like part-political press release and part-accounting request for documents. 

“The committee is investigating waste, fraud and abuse in several Medicaid programs due to the Biden Administration’s failure to enforce U.S. immigration laws and the resulting expansion of benefits for illegal aliens,” the letter said. “Specifically, the committee is investigating waste, fraud and abuse in several Medicaid programs due to the Biden Administration’s failure to enforce U.S. immigration laws and the resulting expansion of benefits for illegal aliens.”

Medicaid is a state and federal health insurance program, mostly for the poor, children, pregnant women, the disabled and low-income senior citizens. 

It is jointly funded by states and the federal government, though federal funding is generally only available to undocumented immigrants for limited coverage necessary for emergency treatments or emergency medical conditions, including labor and delivery for people who meet the requirements. Otherwise, immigration status is part of the equation for determining eligibility and people not lawfully present in the U.S. will not qualify for broader coverage. 

The letter was authored by Rep. James Comer, a Kentucky Republican and chairman of the committee. He cited a Congressional Budget Office report that said the taxpayers spent more than $16 billion on Medicaid-funded emergency services to unauthorized immigrants during the first three years of the Biden administration.

The probe comes amid the Trump administration’s crackdown on illegal immigration and new legislation recently signed by the president that will eventually pare down support for Medicaid and state health insurance markets. The Congressional Budget Office estimates 10 million people will lose their health insurance by 2034.

A Polis spokeswoman said the governor’s office was “reviewing” the letter and said they would have more to say in the coming days.

The letter makes no direct reference to OmniSalud, the state-funded program providing additional health insurance services to immigrant populations without regard to legal status. Though it does ask Colorado to furnish all “state and local programs” that provide health coverage and other services for “illegal aliens.”

State Attorney General Phil Weiser joined a lawsuit in July challenging the Department of Homeland Security’s unrestricted access to individual personal health data from Medicaid for the purposes of immigration enforcement. 

“There’s no reason to share this sensitive data with immigration or law enforcement agencies,” Weiser said, at the time. “We’re suing to protect Colorado’s Medicaid program and the health and welfare of the people it serves.”

Weiser’s office did not have an immediate comment on the House letter on Thursday.

The committee gave Colorado until Sept. 17 to comply with the request, though it is unclear what steps they could take if the state chose not to voluntarily hand over the data.