California’s Proposal to Cover Immigrants’ Health Care Would Divert Public Dollars
“California already allows eligible immigrant children up to age 19 to participate in Medi-Cal, the state’s Medicaid program for low-income residents, regardless of their immigration status. The current budget sets aside $365.2 million to pay for the coverage. In his 2019-20 budget plan, Newsom proposes expanding eligibility to unauthorized young adult immigrants from age 19 through 25. His office estimates it would cost nearly $260 million to cover them in 2019-20. While state and federal governments usually share Medicaid costs, California would have to bear the full cost of covering this population.”