California Lawmakers Move to Expand Medicaid for Illegal Immigrants
By Kaylee Greenlee
The California Assembly voted 44-11 in favor of a bill last week that broadens state Medicaid coverage to include illegal immigrants to the tune of more than $3 billion annually.
Under federal law, Medi-Cal, the state’s Medicaid program, provides health care to low-income citizens. Assembly Bill 4, if passed, would eliminate the existing citizenship requirements to receive benefits.
The bill would “extend eligibility for full-scope Medi-Cal benefits to individuals of all ages, if otherwise eligible for those benefits, but for their immigration status, and would delete provisions delaying eligibility and enrollment.”
In other words, under AB 4, illegal immigrants over 19 years old would receive the same full scope Medi-Cal benefits as taxpaying citizens, including keeping their chosen primary care provider . . .
Sally Pipes, president and CEO of the Pacific Research Institute, a California-based, free-market think tank, told The Daily Signal:
Paying for the health care of the undocumented in California is, in effect, a tax on people who are here legally. It would make California an even larger magnet for more illegal immigration into the state—putting incredible additional pressure on future state budgets. If taxpayers protest with their feet by moving out of state, there will be fewer taxpayers left in California to cover skyrocketing health care costs and more pressure on the people who remain to pay for these programs.
