Gov. Gavin Newsom and the California Legislature on Friday unveiled a state budget plan that would expand Medi-Cal coverage to low-income, undocumented adults and seniors ages 50 and over.
State leaders are expected to sign the deal next week.
The proposed expansion makes California closer to potentially becoming the first state in the nation to extend health care coverage to all its low-income residents regardless of immigration status. The state extended Medi-Cal coverage for undocumented children in 2016 and young adults up to the age of 26 in 2020.
Coverage would start in 2022 and cost the state an ongoing $1.3 billion.
Newsom had originally included extending Medi-Cal coverage for undocumented seniors over 65 in his budget last year but struck it, citing an expected budget deficit due to the COVID-19 pandemic. He introduced a proposal again in his revised budget plan released in May to extend coverage for undocumented adults and seniors over the age of 60.
Immigrant advocates and members of the California Latino Legislative Caucus for years have championed the effort.
“California has been taking the lead in integrating undocumented immigrants into broader society at a time when the federal government has been at an impasse with respect to passing comprehensive immigration policy reform,” said Paulette Cha, a research fellow at the Public Policy Institute of California.
Perris resident Isabel, 77, who asked that her last name not be used because she is an undocumented immigrant, said she was relieved at the expansion.
The former farmworker from Mexico said her immigration status often prevented her from seeking health care.
“Having this (coverage), one can now go to the doctor,” she said in Spanish. “There are so many people who need this, not just me.”
Throughout the pandemic, “there’s been a big focus on who has been left behind,” said Sarah Dar, director of health and public benefits policy at the California Immigrant and Policy Center.
Dar added that years of advocacy, the COVID-19 pandemic’s disproportionate toll on immigrant communities and the state’s budget surplus helped the cause rise as a priority for many state lawmakers.
Meanwhile, recent statewide polling had also shown that 66% of Californians approved increasing health care coverage to undocumented residents.
California, home to about 2 million undocumented residents, contains the largest undocumented population in the U.S. About one in ten workers in the state is undocumented.
Assemblyman Joaquin Arambula, D-Fresno, is currently pushing a bill that would extend Medi-Cal coverage to all undocumented Californians regardless of age.
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“Illegal” is the operative term, here—they don’t qualify for anything. So, Kamala, you want to know what the root cause for illegal immigration is? Here’s your answer. Government assistance and government handouts—and they don’t have to be legitimate citizens to get it.
“State leaders are expected to sign the deal next week”.,,,,,,, make that the bought and paid for useful idiots. You just found out where all that overtaxed unused (Never let a crisis go to waste) COVID money went, and was designed for all along,,,, to bail out a bankrupt state of bankrupt ideas concocted by criminal politicians who have devised more ways to milk THE PEOPLE than a dairy farm full of milking machines. The real reason they shut down the meat processing plants is because they Democrat Bulls with their Democrat B.S know they deserve to be processed into socialist sausage and fed to the pigs. Another attempt by Newsom to buy/bribe his way out of failure, with the redistributed money of THE PEOPLE. Medical benefits used to be paid by employers in lieu of rising wages. Now it is being paid by liberal governments to buy votes and power in perpetuity, in forced higher minimum wages and free unearned benefits for just showing up,,,,AT THE BORDER.
He and the other Progressive Socialist/Communist Democrats reused to understand the meaning of ILLEGAL Immigrants ! I’m surprised that they have not Banded the word illegal from the English language yet
SINCE MOST dems are themselves CRIMINALS< of course they FAIL TO understand what the term "Illegal" means..
Or more likely, they just don't CARE TO understand.
Yep, Gavin, the American citizen is garbage and illegal aliens are entitled to health insurance. Gavin, how do you spell traitor to our Country and while you are spelling traitor, Gavin, look at yourself in the mirror and you will know what a traitor looks like!
AND isn’t CA already having mass financial hardships, cause of losses of MILLIONS IN tourism and other issues??
So where is the money FOR ALL THIS going to come from!
Medical Coverage would start in 2022 and cost the state an ongoing $1.3 billion.
This is on top of free food and housing.
“California, home to about 2 million undocumented residents, contains the largest undocumented population in the U.S. About one in ten workers in the state is undocumented.”
Now aren’t the Californian Taxpayer fortunate enough to be able support the 10% of their population which are illegal immigrants….. NOT!
YET CA Is home to the LARGEST AMOUNT OF homeless in the nation.. Makes you wonder, WHY THOSE HOMELESS doing form a class action lawsuit, and SUE THE STATE under the 14th amendment, because the STATE TREATS illegals BETTER THAN AMERICAN citizens!
The state has a surplus and it couldn’t happen at a better time for this pretty boy jacka$$. He is running commercials showing how much money he is going to give away to almost everybody. Wonder what these $#%@&#$$#$ plan on doing when revenues get back to normal. Perfect opportunity to lower taxes to keep businesses here or even spend the surplus of actual infrastructure, instead he is going to squander it away on trying to by votes.
darby:
What gives you the idea that California has a surplus of money. The COVID-19 relief Bill/Con passed by Democrats was 7% Covid relief related and 93% Democrat Party bankrupt relief.
California’s debt in 2020? – $362,873,113,000.00
It’s a surplus the way math works in the world governments live in. The state brought in over 10 billion more in revenues than anticipated. We have close to 19 billion as a “surplus” over plan. The states debt is closer to 150 billion, much of that is future obligations and is paid from current taxes.
A better way to look at it is to imagine somebody with a big home loan that gets a rather large bonus. Does he use money to further his skills and increase future income (tax cuts), fix up the house (infrastructure), pay off debt, or throw a huge block party and buys all the neighbors cars to bribe them into ignoring the homeless people living on his front lawn? Newsome chooses to party.
WITH HOW many businesses SHUT DOWN, and closed up for good.. HOW THE HELL can the have that much of a SURPLUS?
Ituser, most of the surplus was from capital gains. The stock market roared and the shut down was great for big business, not so good for small businesses.
BUT with how much they’ve had to “supposedly” pay out TO those businesses, in aid, how can they be in ‘surplus”?
AND WHY NOT USE IT TO combat the CRIME problem. OR the Homeless problem, RATHER THAN WASTING IT on illegal invaders!
And what would the “root cause” be prompting people to illegally enter the US? How about the Biden administration and CA’s Newsom!!
But yet the federal government has not sued them to stop rewarding criminals, I mean illegals. But yet the federal government is suing Georgia for making election s safer.
When did we vote in a political party that hates America so much?? I don’t remember doing that! This is the part of the elections the Democrats are desperate to keep… the ability to always win them any way possible!
WHEN TRUMP tried, the Scotus slapped him down, saying he didn’t have the right to PUNISH Sanctuary states (IIRC).
So how many American citizens are going to have to lose their Medical or Medicare to pay for this? Everybody over 70? 65? In order for them to get this, someone has to lose theirs! What’s next? Are they going to get Social Security disability? And who will have to lose their SS so they can get that? When did we vote in a political party that hates America so much?? I don’t remember doing that!
There is no constitutional authority for our elected officials to spend tax dollars in this manner. None! Yet they do it. A bill is concocted, voted on, and if passed and signed by the executive branch, it becomes a law to authorize certain spending. If citizens disagree and sue to stop the unlawful spending, and a judge sides with the citizens, the elected officials are told that the bill is unconstitutional and the money in the bill can’t be spent in that manner, that’s all that happens. The politicians didn’t get to unlawfully spend the money, but no one is punished for violating the Constitution. I fear that our constitutional republic is finished. It will take a true act of God, a real miracle to restore our Nation. A cabal of greedy, self serving, swamp thieves are running the country for their own benefit, and their own benefit alone! The public be damned! Trump derailed them for a time, so now they’ve rigged the elections to prevent another accidental election of another person such as Trump. If I were to be elected as President, I wouldn’t know where to begin in appointing people to positions of authority, who could possibly be trusted, and who was another lying swamp creature. Sad, but true! The lying swamp creatures are vehemently denying the the election was stolen, we’re told that we can’t believe our own lying eyes. But the truth is there to plainly see!
TO me, EVERY BILL the govt does, that spends “WE THE PEOPLE’s money”, we should have a damn say so, on whether it passes or not.
No problem. But NOT A PENNY of Other People’s Money from other states to bail out this foolishness when the bills come due! If a governor is going to spend his state into oblivion to buy votes, or stand by as city after city burns to the ground, the bill needs to stop at his desk.
Of course once his spends well over the budget, he will be crying for the government to bail him out. Nothing more pathetic than a politician who spends the taxpayers money just for a few votes while the whole state is falling apart then ask for a bailout.
IF our GOP officials had a spine, they would STOP THOSE BLOODY BAILOUTS from happening.