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Witness tells committee Medicaid access for noncitizens drives fiscal shortfalls; urges talent-focused immigration reforms
Summary
At a Joint Economic Committee hearing, witness Mr. Di Martino said Medicaid coverage for noncitizens largely drives the negative fiscal impact of immigration and recommended policy changes including excluding noncitizens from Medicaid and adopting point- or market-based immigration selection to better align entrants with AI-era labor needs.
At a Joint Economic Committee hearing, witness Mr. Di Martino, who identified himself as an immigrant from Venezuela, told lawmakers that much of the federal fiscal burden sometimes attributed to immigration stems from noncitizens’ access to Medicaid.
"Half of immigrants are net drains," Di Martino said, adding that "half of the fiscal impacts that are negative are driven just by Medicaid." He suggested that excluding noncitizens from Medicaid would eliminate what he described as the fiscal negative impact of immigration on the federal budget.
A committee member who introduced the question, describing themselves as an immigrant and former state senator, framed the hearing around how the immigration system can both attract…
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