California lawmakers propose health coverage for immigrants
JONATHAN J. COOPER, ASSOCIATED PRESS, December 13, 2017. Updated: December 15, 2017 8:47am
San Francisco Chronicle
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SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — California, flush with cash from an expanding economy, would eventually spend $1 billion a year to provide health care to immigrants living in the state illegally under a proposal announced Wednesday by Democratic lawmakers.
It’s part of $4.3 billion in new spending proposed by Assemblyman Phil Ting, a San Francisco Democrat who leads the budget committee.
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California has significantly reduced its rate of uninsured people since former President Barack Obama’s health care law took effect, but about 7 percent of residents still lack coverage. Many are people living in the country illegally, who are ineligible for U.S.-funded health care assistance.
While federal funds cover at least half — and as much 95 percent — of the cost for citizens and legal U.S. residents on Medi-Cal, the state would have to pick up the cost on its own for people living here illegally.
Expanding access to health care has been a contentious issue for California lawmakers, who targeted last year by protests from liberal activists who want the Legislature to provide state-funded coverage to everyone, regardless of immigration status.
A measure promoting that principle was sidelined when Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon said it lacked specifics, including a plan for the $400 billion it would cost.
The Assembly’s latest proposal is narrower, only extending the state Medicaid program to all low-income adults.
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