ALBANY — President Obama’s immigration overhaul could be expensive for New York — putting the state on the hook for hundreds of millions of dollars in added health-care costs.
Obama’s executive order would make as many as 300,000 undocumented immigrants eligible for New York’s Medicaid program, analysts said.
“It will be hundreds of millions of dollars at a minimum,” said E.J. McMahon of the fiscally conservative Empire Center for Public Policy.
New York, unlike most other states, is required by a 2001 court decision to provide health services to immigrants who are lawfully living in the state.
Because Obama’s order forbids undocumented immigrants from receiving federal health care subsidies, New York would have to bear the total cost of the new enrollees. The state already spends $21.9 billion a year on Medicaid.
“New York is a leader in health care and we need to be able to provide health care to everyone,” said Becca Telzak of Make the Road New York.
© 2014 New York Daily News
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