Your tax dollars at work!
Matt Hayes at Fox News stuns with Medical Benefits for Non-Citizens:

To hear my client "Rick" tell it, you would think that his third arrest for possession of crack was the best thing that had happened to him in years.

His third narcotics conviction, the result of a guilty plea, landed him in a New York State prison.

Rick was not a U.S. citizen. Though his sentence was nearly served, he was apprehensive that on release he would be deported to Barbados, his home country, and would no longer have access to the free HIV treatment he received while in prison. For Rick, release from prison and deportation to Barbados was a death sentence.

An asylum claim was the only relief from deportation that was available to Rick. The government of Barbados provided free HIV treatment to pregnant females, but as a male, none would be available to Rick. We would argue that the government of Barbados thereby persecuted Rick because of an "immutable characteristic" he possessed (his sex, and the fact that he was unable to become pregnant), and that the inevitable result of that persecution would be Rick's death. A unique argument, but Rick's only shot at continued free HIV treatment.

Claiming political asylum from Barbados?

In case you haven't guessed, Matt is an immigration lawyer. But he is kind enough to explain the scam.

It is amazing that America is willing to provide free medical treatment to people who are not citizens -- and even illegal aliens -- while the home countries of most all of those people will not do so. This occurs while our schools lack adequate money and while many of America's senior citizens scrape to pay for medicine. If you think that the problem is minor, or under control, you should think again. America is in the throws of a historically unprecedented wave of immigration, both legal and illegal, and the costs are mounting.

Medicaid, the program co-funded by the federal government and the governments of participating states, is the main source of money for the medical treatment of uninsured aliens. The Welfare Reform Act of 1996 restricted federal public assistance, including payments made in connection with Medicaid, to be used by citizens and legal immigrants who have already paid into the system for 10 years through payroll taxes. But if you have a medical problem, and are an alien who has not paid taxes, or who is illegal, you will still be treated -- for free.

Last time I looked, the federal and state governments didn't have any money of their own. It comes from the taxpayers.

The Alien Emergency Medical Program, sometimes called Emergency Medicaid or Emergency Medical Assistance, is found in every state that participates in the Medicaid program. It exists because an illegal alien successfully sued the U.S. government for Medicaid coverage, contending that the government's decision to provide Medicaid coverage to citizens and legal aliens, while not also providing it to illegal aliens, violated the Constitution's guarantee of equal protection.

A federal judge in New York City agreed, and the government was compelled to provide Medicaid to illegal aliens. But Congress acted quickly and amended the Medicaid statute to permit payments for illegal aliens only in emergencies. Free medical treatment to illegal aliens through Medicaid survived the 1996 Welfare Reform Act because, at least under the current law, its denial is said to violate the Constitution.

I must have missed that part of the Constitution. I guess the long suffering citizens of the USA owe free medical care to anyone in the world who can manage to get across the border. Think of it as a "Get into hospital free" card. It truly is a land of opportunity!

More details by following the link, including the current tab which is estimated at 1.5 to 2 billion dollars a year. One final excerpt:

In the state of Washington, depression is considered a medical emergency, and Washington will pay for an illegal alien's treatment for depression. So is high blood pressure.

Hmm, now that I've read this, I have both. Maybe I'll mosey on down to the local hospital and tell 'em I'm from Tajikistan.