‘Worse than we thought’: Medicaid funneled to illegals now tops $1.8 BILLION across 8 states
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) announced it is withholding nearly $300 million from California after federal auditors have now confirmed that more than $1.8 BILLION in Medicaid funds may have been unlawfully spent on illegal immigrants across EIGHT states.
The update was revealed by Dr. Oz, who issued a blunt warning on X that the problem is “worse than we thought.”
According to Oz, federal law explicitly prohibits the use of federal Medicaid dollars for non-emergency care for illegal immigrants. While states are free to use their own state funds to provide such coverage, they are required to maintain a clear paper trail proving that no federal dollars were used.
As a result, Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services is now withholding nearly $300 million from California, which Oz described as “by far the worst offender,” until the state can demonstrate it complied with federal law.
“UPDATE: It’s worse than we thought.
In October, we flagged $1.3 billion in Medicaid funds that 6 states may have unlawfully spent on health care for illegal immigrants.
Since then, we’ve gathered more data and the total has grown to over $1.8 billion across 8 states.
It’s against the law to spend federal Medicaid funds on non-emergency healthcare for illegals. If states use their own money to do it, there needs to be a clear paper trail proving that federal dollars didn’t fund those services.
These states failed to provide that for this $1.8 billion. So today, CMS is announcing that we’re withholding nearly $300 million from California — which is by far the worst offender — until they demonstrate to our satisfaction that they’re spending that money properly.
Medicaid dollars belong to Americans, not illegal immigrants, and we won’t stop until we’ve held rogue states accountable and recovered their misspent funds.
More announcements to come.”
UPDATE: It’s worse than we thought.⁰ ⁰In October, we flagged $1.3 billion in Medicaid funds that 6 states may have unlawfully spent on health care for illegal immigrants.⁰ ⁰Since then, we’ve gathered more data and the total has grown to over $1.8 billion across 8 states.… https://t.co/UzswejZS7e
— DrOzCMS (@DrOzCMS) January 14, 2026
This revelation builds on explosive findings first disclosed in October, when CMS audits uncovered more than $1 billion in federal taxpayer funds being diverted to Medicaid coverage for illegal immigrants despite repeated denials from Democrats and their media allies.
At the time, Oz warned Americans to ‘buckle up.’
“Buckle up for this one.
Based on our initial set of audits, more than $1B of federal taxpayer dollars were being spent on funding Medicaid for illegal immigrants. And my team is getting it back.
Some want to deny that illegal immigrants are receiving Medicaid. Others insist it’s illegal for Medicaid to cover illegal immigrants. And others accurately point out that hospitals can provide emergency services to illegal immigrants under the program.
We can all agree on this: rooting out fraud, waste, and abuse is essential to protecting this program for the most vulnerable. It’s also one of the Trump Administration’s top priorities.
Let me lay down the facts:
The truth is that federal law is supposed to prohibit federal Medicaid dollars broadly from being used to cover illegal immigrants. It does permit states to use Medicaid dollars for emergency treatment, regardless of patients’ citizenship or immigration status. States can also legally build Medicaid programs for illegal immigrants using their own state tax dollars, so long as no federal tax dollars are used.
But that didn’t stop Democrats from going even further by breaking federal law to give illegal immigrants federal Medicaid dollars meant for American citizens.
Earlier this year, the CMS team began auditing state Medicaid programs to ensure they were following the law and not spending any federal tax dollars on illegal immigrants outside of emergency Medicaid. What we found was shocking.
In a preliminary review of 6 states, we found those states improperly using federal tax dollars for their allegedly state-funded program and providing coverage to individuals, including some with criminal records of murder and assault.
Those states are:
CA – $1,310,032,549
DC – $2,114,628
IL – $29,778,645
WA – $2,367,194
CO – $1,506,743
OR – $5,404,368We notified the states, and many have begun refunding the money. But what if we had never asked?
Whether willful or not, the states’ conduct highlights a terrifying reality: American taxpayers have been footing the bill for illegal immigrants’ Medicaid coverage, despite many Democrats and the media insisting otherwise.
Democrats are demanding the repeal of the President’s Working Families Tax Cuts legislation in order for their votes to reopen the government. This law wisely strengthened our ability to limit federal dollars from being spent on health care for illegal immigrants. Until Democrats explicitly drop that demand, they’re blatantly holding the government hostage over giving Medicaid to illegal immigrants.”
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[Editor's note: This article originally appeared on The Gateway Pundit.com.]