Longtime Obamacare opponent Betsy McCaughey warned Fox Business on Monday that pregnant undocumented immigrants were sneaking into the U.S. to get free lifetime care for babies infected with the Zika virus.
A bill approved by the California state Senate last week would ask the federal government for a waiver to allow undocumented immigrants to buy insurance on the state's health care exchange.
Although undocumented immigrants would not qualify for federal subsidies, McCaughey argued that Gov. Jerry Brown (D) would be making a costly mistake if he signed the bill.
"The illegal immigrants won't be eligible for tax credits on the front end or help with out of pocket expense," she explained. "But all Obamacare policies are subsidized with direct payments to insurers from the U.S. Treasury to keep them selling these money-losing plans."
"Despite what you've heard, there are many, many programs in this health law -- Obamacare -- that are targeted directly to providing health care for illegal immigrants," McCaughey continued. "And the Obama administration already spends billions with a 'B' -- billions of dollars a year on health care for illegal immigrants."
McCaughey argued that it was pregnant women coming into the U.S. with the Zika virus that should really scare Fox Business viewers.
"You've got emergency Medicaid, especially prenatal care, delivery care almost exclusively for illegal immigrants," she opined. "And the cost is going to go way up sadly, tragically when -- who knows how many -- pregnant women from South America who are fearful of carrying the Zika virus arrive in the United States to give birth to a child."
"The labor and delivery cost will be covered here," McCaughey said. "And the lifetime cost of caring for this tragically disabled [child] will be picked up by taxpayers because these children will be U.S. citizens."
Last month, the CDC said that it was tracking as many as 157 pregnant women who may have the Zika virus in U.S. states. However, it was unclear if any of those women were undocumented immigrants who contracted the disease before entering the country.
