California Offers Free Health Insurance to 700,000 Illegal Immigrants
California ushered in the new year by expanding the state’s health insurance to provide full coverage for hundreds of thousands of illegal immigrants.
Medi-Cal, California’s version of the federal Medicare program, has granted illegal immigrants free emergency and pregnancy healthcare since 2014, but the health insurance program has been expanded several times over the past several years.
Former California Governor Jerry Brown expanded the program in 2015 to allow children brought into the U.S. illegally to receive health insurance through Medi-Cal. Then, in 2019, Governor Gavin Newsom signed a law extending health insurance to illegal migrants ages 19 to 25. Shortly after, Governor Newsom again expanded access, allowing immigrants aged 50 years or older to receive full benefits, “regardless of immigration status,” according to ABC7.
In 2022, state lawmakers and the governor agreed to yet another expansion of Medi-Cal, making more than 700,000 immigrants living in the U.S. illegally who are between the ages of 26 and 49 eligible to receive free, full coverage under Medical-Cal insurance. The change went into effect January 1, 2024.
“In California, we believe everyone deserves access to quality, affordable health care coverage – regardless of income or immigration status,” Governor Newsom’s office told ABC News. “Through this expansion, we’re making sure families and communities across California are healthier, stronger, and able to get the care they need when they need it.”
NewsNation reported that the expansion of coverage is expected to cost California taxpayers approximately $1.2 billion in the first six months of its implementation, and a subsequent $3.1 billion a year.
“Newsom committed to the health care expansion when California had the largest budget surplus in its history,” the outlet stated, “But the state now faces a record $68 billion budget deficit. Spending for Medi-Cal is the state’s second-largest expense in its budget.”
TPUSA previously reported that California’s budget has risen to $300 billion, surpassing that of any other state in the nation, while the state simultaneously faces a critical $26 billion loss of tax dollars, as residents leave the state in droves.
