EDITORIAL: Blue states learn a lesson

In recent years, a handful of deep-blue states have aggressively tried to offer “free” health care to those in the country illegally only to develop alligator arms when the check arrived. Go figure.

In Illinois, Gov. J.B. Pritzker has proposed ending the Health Benefits for Immigrant Adults (notice the word “illegal” is nowhere to be found) by July. “The decision is a response to higher-than-anticipated costs,” Newsweek reported, “aligning with broader deficit reduction efforts.” Legislation in Minnesota would do the same after a 2023 plan to expand “access” to publicly funded care to the undocumented proved far more costly than anticipated.

And then there’s California.

In 2022, Gov. Gavin Newsom promised that legislation to expand a taxpayer-funded health care program to all low-income residents regardless of immigration status would save money in the long run by emphasizing preventive care and reducing expensive emergency room visits. “We are implementing our ideals,” he said.

Those ideals apparently included cratering the budget.

The Wall Street Journal reports that California even sent nonprofit workers into immigrant neighborhoods to sign up as many people as possible for the Medi-Cal program. Enrollment skyrocketed, and overall costs ballooned from $104 billion in fiscal 2019 to $197 billion. The state is projected to run a $10 billion deficit for the current fiscal year — which is expected to increase during the following budget cycle. This despite record revenue growth.

In response, Gov. Newsom has announced a freeze on new applicants for Medi-Cal and a reduction in benefits for current enrollees, while adding monthly premiums for many in the program.

“The governor and Legislature made a fiscally necessary decision that ultimately helps preserve the long-term viability of Medi-Cal,” a Newsom spokesman told the Journal.

Of course, the “fiscally necessary decision” was necessary in the first place only because of a previous fiscally irresponsible decision by the governor and lawmakers.

The moral of the story is that “free” health care isn’t “free.” There are real consequences — both fiscal and political — for extending welfare benefits to those who break the nation’s immigration laws, not the least of which is the creation of an incentive that drives more illegal immigration.

It’s also a potent reminder to all those newly minted democratic socialists that the “free” stuff they promise — health care, child care, college, municipal transit, food, housing — actually costs money, and lots of it. It takes a thriving private sector built on the wonders of capitalism and free markets to generate the tax revenue necessary to fund a cradle-to-grave welfare state. And, as California has now discovered, even that isn’t always enough.