House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform Chairman James Comer (R-Ky.) has opened an investigation into how the Biden Administration’s border policies have affected Medicaid programs. The move follows a Congressional Budget Office report that found federal and state taxpayers spent more than $16.2 billion on Medicaid-funded emergency services for undocumented immigrants during the first three years of the current administration.
Chairman Comer sent letters to eight governors and state health commissioners, seeking documents and communications about what he described as an unprecedented expansion of taxpayer-funded Medicaid benefits for undocumented immigrants. He also asked Minnesota Governor Tim Walz to clarify his statement from a recent Oversight Committee hearing in which Walz said undocumented immigrants do not receive coverage under Minnesota’s Medicaid program.
“The Committee on Oversight and Government Reform is continuing its oversight of the Biden Administration’s open-border policies, their devastating social and fiscal impact on American citizens, and critical federally funded health care programs and services. Specifically, the Committee is investigating waste, fraud and abuse in several Medicaid programs due to the Biden Administration’s failure to enforce U.S. immigration laws and the resulting expansion of benefits for illegal aliens. According to the Congressional Budget Office, federal and state taxpayers paid more than $16.2 billion to provide Medicaid-funded emergency services to illegal aliens during the first three years of the Biden Administration as a result of the influx,” wrote Chairman Comer in his letter.
During a June 12, 2025 hearing titled “A Hearing with Sanctuary State Governors,” Governor Walz testified that illegal immigrants do not receive coverage under Minnesota Medicaid. However, Chairman Comer noted that this statement may be misleading because Minnesota’s Medical Assistance (MA), Emergency Medical Assistance (EMA), and MinnesotaCare programs share funding streams, potentially allowing federal funds to cover undocumented immigrants through MinnesotaCare.
The investigation involves correspondence with officials from California, Colorado, Illinois, Maine, Minnesota, New York, Oregon, and Washington.
James Comer currently serves in Congress representing Kentucky’s 1st district since 2016 after replacing Ed Whitfield. He previously served in the Kentucky House of Representatives from 2001 to 2012. Born in Carthage, Tennessee in 1972, Comer now lives in Tompkinsville. He graduated from Western Kentucky University with a Bachelor of Science degree in 1993.
