WASHINGTON – Giving undocumented immigrants access to federally funded health care in the United States could cost up to $23 billion per year, according to a new study published this week.

The Center for Immigration Studies, a Washington-based think tank that wants to reduce immigration, estimated there are 4.9 million uninsured undocumented immigrants in the US with incomes low enough to qualify for federal assistance.

Providing a subsidy to help them buy private health insurance on the Obamacare marketplace would cost on average $4,600. If all of them enrolled, taxpayers would be on the hook for $22.6 billion annually, the study found. Assuming a more realistic enrollment rate, the cost would be $10.4 billion.

Current law bars undocumented immigrants from getting federal health care benefits, but Democratic 2020 presidential candidates want to reverse that to varying degrees – from allowing them to buy insurance on the exchanges to giving them full access to all the benefits.

At the first Democratic presidential debate in June, all 10 presidential candidates raised their hands in favor of providing coverage for undocumented immigrants. Democratic White House hopefuls largely contend health care is a human right and should not be determined by legal status.

“This is not about a handout,” South Bend., Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg said on stage. “This is an insurance program. We do ourselves no favors by having 11 million undocumented people in our country be unable to access healthcare.”

If undocumented immigrants had access to both Medicaid and Obamacare tax breaks, the cost to taxpayers would be a little less: $19.6 billion if all in need enrolled and $10.7 billion for a more likely enrollment rate, the study found.

Under this hybrid approach, the lowest-income immigrants would get Medicaid while those with higher incomes would receive Obamacare subsidies for the marketplace insurance plans.

The eligibility for Medicaid is incomes below 138% of poverty (about $29,000 for family of three). The Obamacare subsidies eligibility is incomes under 400% of poverty – about $83,000 for a family of three.

“Our analysis indicates that allowing uninsured, low-income illegal immigrants access to these programs would likely cost taxpayers around $10 billion per year, assuming many chose not to enroll, with costs potentially rising as high as $23 billion,” the study’s authors conclude.