The revised state budget Gov. Gavin Newsom released this week includes more subsidies for Covered California enrollees but doesn’t expand Medi-Cal to all undocumented adults as some lawmakers have pressed him to do.
His proposed expansion also extends assistance to people earning up to $73,000 a year, or 600 percent of the federal poverty level, who don’t currently get federal subsidies. California would be the first state to make this change, though Minnesota had a temporary program to help this group in 2017 according to Laurel Lucia, health care program director with the UC Berkeley Labor Center.
The group also wants to see Medi-Cal, the state version of the federal Medicaid program that provides free or low-cost health insurance to those with limited incomes, expanded to all undocumented adults in the state who qualify based on their incomes.
But on Thursday, Newsom reiterated that his plan would extend Medi-Cal eligibility only to undocumented people up to age 26. Undocumented children 18 and under are already eligible.
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This project results from an innovative reporting venture – the USC Center for Health Journalism News Collaborative – which involves print and broadcast outlets across California, all reporting together on the state’s uninsured. Outlets include newspapers from McClatchy, Gannett Co., Southern California News Group and La Opinion, as well as broadcasters at Univision and Capital Public Radio.
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