By Heather Tirado Gilligan, California Health Care Foundation, January 24, 2022
Governor Gavin Newsom wants to make California the first state to remove immigration status as a barrier to eligibility for Medicaid (called Medi-Cal in California), making health insurance accessible to all undocumented residents with low incomes.
In his proposed state budget released on January 10, Newsom included Medi-Cal coverage for an estimated 700,000 undocumented, uninsured adults (PDF) with low incomes age 26–49, the last remaining group excluded from enrolling in the program.
Undocumented people pay taxes yet are excluded from receiving health benefits, Farida Jhabvala Romero noted on KQED News. “Undocumented immigrants in the United States pay billions of dollars in taxes and often do essential work in agriculture, food services, health care, and other industries,” Jhabvala Romero said. “But they are excluded from the Affordable Care Act and they cannot purchase subsidized coverage through Covered California, the state’s ACA health exchange.”
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