Did Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers allow unauthorized immigrants to get taxpayer-funded health care?

Unauthorized immigrants are not eligible for federally or state-funded health coverage in Wisconsin. 

That includes Medicaid, Medicare and the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP), and coverage purchased through the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare) marketplaces.

Unauthorized immigrants also are not eligible for Wisconsin Medicaid or BadgerCare Plus.

Fourteen states, including Illinois and Minnesota, use state Medicaid funds to cover unauthorized immigrants, but Wisconsin does not.

Democratic Gov. Tony Evers on Dec. 5 vetoed a Republican-backed bill that would have banned public money from going toward health care coverage for unauthorized immigrants.

Republicans said the bill was meant to be pre-emptive.

On Dec. 10, Republican U.S. Rep. Tom Tiffany, who is running for governor in 2026, incorrectly said Evers’ veto allowed unauthorized immigrants “to continue to get taxpayer-funded health care.”

When Evers vetoed the bill he criticized it for “trying to push polarizing political rhetoric.”