Gov. Youngkin Rejects Subsidized Healthcare for Illegals

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Virginia Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin this week rejected parts of a state Senate bill that would have strengthened a federal program often used to subsidize healthcare for illegal immigrants, a conservative advocacy group said.

Youngkin sent back SB119 with revisions and called for a report into the federal 340B program by Nov. 1 of this year. Youngkin approved the “general purpose of the bill” but returned it without his signature in lieu of his amendment.

Part of SB119 was an effort by the Virginia state legislature to bolster the federal 340B program, which allows hospitals to get discounted rates for prescription drugs but get reimbursed by the federal government at the normal rate. Some healthcare providers have been using that savings to provide healthcare to illegals.

A spokesperson for Youngkin said last month the governor was “deeply concerned” about the 340B program and “how it could be exploited to provide taxpayer subsidized healthcare to illegal immigrants.”

To that end, he asked that the Virginia Health and Human Resources convene a work group to look into the 340B program. That drew praise from conservative nonprofit Building America’s Future (BAF).

“We applaud Governor Glenn Youngkin for protecting Virginians from putting more money in the pockets of illegal aliens by rejecting SB 119, a measure that would have further subsidized illegal alien health care,” BAF senior adviser Katie Miller said in a statement to Newsmax.

“Health care providers are exploiting the 340B program by using the funds to foot the bill for health care costs of illegal aliens, which is greatly exacerbated by President Biden’s disastrous border crisis. We thank Governor Youngkin for keeping his word and rejecting the 340B money laundering scheme and we hope Republican leaders in other states follow Governor Youngkin’s lead.”