CNN’s Kaitlan Collins has claimed Democrats aren’t pushing to give illegal immigrants health care coverage
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D., N.Y.) said “every person should be able to go to the doctor” when asked whether illegal migrants have a right to federally funded health care.
“Do you think undocumented immigrants should have access to federally funded health care?” CNN anchor Kaitlan Collins asked Ocasio-Cortez during a town hall on Wednesday.
“I believe, personally, that health care is a human right,” Ocasio-Cortez responded. “I believe that every person should be able to go to the doctor. U.S. citizens and people who pay into our programs deserve to be covered by these programs,” she added, calling federal law that prohibits taxpayer dollars from covering illegal immigrants “appropriate.”
Collins pressed Ocasio-Cortez on whether she believed that law should be changed.
“I believe in a single-payer health care system,” Ocasio-Cortez said, “where if you go in and need a doctor, you can get the medical attention that you need.”
The exchange comes amid a bitter government shutdown fight over health care subsidies, with Republicans accusing Democrats of demanding coverage for illegal immigrants. Democratic lawmakers have given inconsistent responses as to whether that’s the case.
Collins herself has run cover for Democrats, claiming the party’s proposals do not grant illegal migrants health care coverage. She fact-checked House Speaker Mike Johnson during a September interview: “People who are in the United States illegally have never been eligible for the Obamacare subsidies, for Medicare, for Medicaid. … They want to undo changes … narrowing who is eligible. … They’re not technically people who are here illegally.”
Ocasio-Cortez herself said earlier this month that it’s “totally false” Democrats are shutting down the government over health care for illegal immigrants.
Democrats, in fact, are demanding expanded subsidies for Medicaid reimbursements that would fund certain emergency treatments for illegal immigrants.
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