Minnesota lawmakers, advocates say budget deal will strip health coverage from about 20,000 immigrants

Minnesota legislators and immigrant-rights advocates criticized a budget agreement announced today that they said will remove state-funded health coverage for roughly 20,000 people without legal status at the end of the calendar year.

Cedric Frasier, co-chair of the People of Color and Indigenous Caucus in the Minnesota House, said the agreement would strip access to “cancer treatments” and “dialysis care” for individuals who currently rely on the coverage. “Those individuals at the end of the year will lose access to that care,” Frasier said.

Why it matters: Speakers said the deal preserves coverage for children but would leave many adults without ongoing medical care. State and advocacy speakers warned losing that coverage could lead to preventable deaths and greater strain on emergency services and hospitals.

At a downtown press conference, Frasier said his caucus had resisted a shutdown tactic by the Republican legislative caucus and that Democratic leaders had weighed compromises to “do the least harm.” “We cannot vote for that,” he…