Can undocumented immigrants get Medicaid?

Are undocumented immigrants eligible for Medicaid?

Unauthorized non-citizens (also called “undocumented immigrants”) may or may not be eligible for Medicaid, depending on their income, where they live, their age, and whether they’re pregnant.

Under federal law, undocumented immigrants are ineligible to enroll in federally funded health coverage – including Medicaid – except in limited circumstances.¹ In almost all cases, federal Medicaid funding cannot be used to provide coverage to undocumented immigrants.²

However, because Medicaid is funded jointly by the federal government and each state government, states can choose to use only state funds to cover undocumented immigrants.² As a result, undocumented immigrants’ eligibility to receive Medicaid benefits varies by state.³

Here’s what you need to know:

Which states offer Medicaid to undocumented immigrant adults?

Six states provide Medicaid or Medicaid-like coverage (benefits similar to Medicaid but provided through a separate program) to at least some undocumented immigrant adults, and 14 states (including the six that offer coverage to adults) provide Medicaid or similar coverage to undocumented immigrant children and in some cases, pregnant women.

The following states use state funds to provide Medicaid or Medicaid-like coverage to certain adults who reside in the state and meet income eligibility guidelines, regardless of their immigration status:⁴

• California⁵
• Illinois The Health Benefits for Immigrant Adults Program (HBIA) stopped accepting new enrollments in 2023.⁶ And coverage will end for adults aged 42 to 64 on June 30, 2025.⁷ But Health Benefits for Immigrant Adults (HBIA) will continue for those 65 and older.⁸
• Minnesota (Coverage is provided through MinnesotaCare,⁹ the state’s Basic Health Program.)
• New York (Only for those 65 and older)¹⁰
• Oregon¹¹
• Washington (Enrollment cap has been met, but people can still apply to be considered if space opens in the program.)¹²

Which states offer Medicaid to undocumented immigrant children?

A longer list of states use state funds to provide Medicaid or CHIP (Children’s Health Insurance Program) to children who reside in the state and meet income eligibility guidelines, regardless of their immigration status. (This includes all of the states listed above that also allow certain undocumented adults to enroll in Medicaid.) Some of these states also offer Medicaid coverage for undocumented pregnant women:³

• California
• Colorado (Undocumented pregnant immigrants are also eligible.)¹³
• Connecticut¹⁴
• Illinois
• Maine (Undocumented pregnant immigrants are also eligible.)¹⁵
• Massachusetts¹⁶
• Minnesota (Coverage is provided through MinnesotaCare.)⁹
• New Jersey¹⁷
• New York (Undocumented pregnant immigrants are also eligible.)¹⁸
• Oregon
• Rhode Island¹⁹
• Utah (The program covers about 2,000 children, but enrollment is currently closed to new applicants.)²⁰
• Vermont (Undocumented pregnant immigrants are also eligible.)²¹
• Washington

Can federal funding ever be used to provide health benefits to undocumented immigrants?

Yes, some programs utilize federal funding to provide at least some health coverage to undocumented immigrants. They include Emergency Medicaid,² as well as two CHIP options: From Coverage to End of Pregnancy (FCEP)²² and Health Services Initiatives (HSI).²³

What is Emergency Medicaid?

Emergency Medicaid, which is jointly funded by the state and federal governments,² covers emergency care for uninsured patients who are ineligible for Medicaid due to their immigration status. There is state-to-state variation in the types of care that can be reimbursed under Emergency Medicaid.²⁴

Emergency Medicaid spending, much of which is used to pay for labor and delivery costs, accounts for less than 1% of all Medicaid spending.²⁵ Federal law requires hospitals to provide certain emergency care, including labor and delivery services, regardless of the patient’s health coverage or immigration status.²⁶ Without Emergency Medicaid, the cost of providing certain emergency care would have to be borne by hospitals and the states.²⁵

What are alternatives to Medicaid for undocumented immigrants?

Undocumented immigrants are much more likely to be uninsured than U.S. citizens or lawfully present residents.²⁹

Providing it’s available to them, undocumented immigrants may be able to enroll in employer-sponsored health insurance. Or they can buy individual-market health coverage outside the health insurance Marketplace.

In most of the country, undocumented immigrants are not eligible to purchase Marketplace coverage,³⁰ but can enroll in full-price coverage outside the Marketplace.³¹

But there are a few exceptions: Colorado³² and Washington³³ allow undocumented immigrants to enroll in Marketplace (or Marketplace equivalent, in the case of Colorado) coverage with state-funded subsidies, and Maryland will join them in the fall of 2025.³⁴

Federal law guarantees that everyone in the U.S. can receive emergency care – including care provided during labor and delivery – regardless of their health coverage or immigration status.³⁵ As described above, Emergency Medicaid will reimburse hospitals for the cost of providing emergency services to people who would be eligible for Medicaid if not for their immigration status.

Undocumented immigrants can also obtain non-emergency care at federally qualified health centers and free clinics.³⁶