On January 1, California will become the first state to expand the qualifications of its government healthcare program to include all undocumented immigrants, despite this move facing criticism from former President Donald Trump and other politicians and experts.
Key Facts
Undocumented adults aged 26 to 49 in California will have the right to health insurance under the state’s Medi-Cal program starting Monday, provided they meet the program’s eligibility requirements, which aim to cover low-income residents.
This step expands health insurance coverage in the state to include all undocumented immigrants, as the state previously covered undocumented children and individuals aged 19 to 25, and those aged 50 and over.
This expansion, approved in legislation in May, will make approximately 700,000 undocumented residents eligible for health insurance, according to California Senator Maria Elena Durazo.
The California Department of Health and Human Services will provide $835.6 million in funding between 2023 and 2024, and $2.6 billion annually to expand Medi-Cal for residents regardless of their immigration status.
However, eligibility requirements remain, including income limits based on family size, according to a statement from the California Department of Health Care Services.
Participating in the program will not affect an individual’s immigration status as the Department of Homeland Security and U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services do not consider receiving health, food, or housing benefits as part of the public charge determination, according to the statement.
Main Critics
Some experts and politicians criticized the state’s decision. The congressional Republican caucus stated that the Medi-Cal program was already “overburdened” with 14.6 million citizens using it, so “adding 764,000 additional individuals to the system will certainly exacerbate current access issues for providers.” Simon Hankinson, a senior researcher at the Center for Border Security and Immigration at the conservative Heritage Foundation, tweeted: “It’s no surprise that California, despite its financial shortfalls, will provide taxpayer-funded healthcare for undocumented immigrants. The question is how and when will they get the money from the taxpayer.” In his 2020 State of the Union address, former President Trump stated that California would impoverish our nation by providing taxpayer-funded healthcare for millions of undocumented immigrants. Sally Pipes, a healthcare policy expert and CEO of the California-based Pacific Research Institute, told the New York Post: “Now that California is struggling to provide a livelihood, using taxpayer money to cover non-citizens is simply irresponsible.”
Main Background
Although California is the first state to expand health insurance to all undocumented immigrants, some states offer coverage to certain categories. New Jersey provides coverage for pregnant women and those 19 years old and younger, while undocumented children are eligible for health insurance in Texas. Illinois provides coverage for children up to 18 years old and enacted a law to expand coverage for those aged 42 to 64 starting Monday, but a new 2023 law caps the number of people who can enroll in coverage at 16,500. Undocumented immigrants use healthcare resources less than non-immigrants in the U.S., according to a study conducted in 2018 and published in the International Journal of Health Services. The study suggested that healthcare costs for immigrants comprise between half and a third of costs for non-immigrants. Immigrants constitute 12% of the U.S. population but only account for 8.6% of the country’s healthcare spending, according to the study. A report from KFF, a non-profit healthcare policy research organization, states that half of undocumented immigrants and about 18% of legally present immigrants report being uninsured, compared to less than 10% of non-immigrants. This is primarily due to a higher likelihood for immigrants to work in jobs that do not provide employer-sponsored health insurance, despite other barriers such as language, fear of deportation, and confusion.
The Number
The Big
66%. This is the percentage of California’s population in 2021 who supported expanding health insurance coverage to all undocumented immigrants, according to a report by the Public Policy Institute of California. This figure has increased by 12% since 2015.
Additional Reading
Transcript of Trump’s 2020 State of the Union Address (New York Times)
Illinois Scaling Back Health Care Benefits for Undocumented Immigrants (WTTW)
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Ariana Johnson
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