Governor Gavin Newsom proposed a plan to the legislature that expands the MediCal health care program with state funds to undocumented residents between 27 and 54 years of age.
The requirements would be the same as for US citizens to receive MediCal which is to have insufficient income to pay for health insurance and reside in California. With this, the state would become the first in the nation to service all undocumented people who meet the requirements of earning little income, regardless of their immigration status.
If the proposal is approved, California would be the first state to provide state health services to the undocumented community. The state already covers undocumented persons under the age of 26 and those 55 and over in MediCal.
California has a surplus of $31,000 million annually, money in addition to the spending budget. The governor's plan to expand MediCal to the currently missing undocumented would cost $ 2.4 billion annually.
The governor's proposal included in a universal health services plan in California of the general budget, which is a proposal of $ 284.4 billion, that must be approved before June 1, 2024. In other words, including undocumented immigrants who are absent from Medical is equivalent to less than 1 percent of the proposed budget for fiscal state year 2022-2023.
"California is about to be, if this proposal is supported, the first state in the country to achieve universal access to health coverage,"Newsom said.
"That means MediCal has full scope, including long-term care, IHSS (In-Home Supportive Services), and behavioral mental health for all low-income Californians, regardless of immigration status," Newsom said.
The California Institute of Public Policy estimates that there are just over two million undocumented immigrants in the state.
According to the New American Economy, the undocumented pay more than $50,000 million annually in taxes, without being entitled to receive tax replacements for their immigration status.
