California Becomes 1st State to Offer Health Care to Undocumented Immigrants of All Ages
CALIFORNIA- Expansion of Medi-Cal health care benefits regardless of immigration status goes into effect today. Governor Newsom signed the law in 2019 for ages 19-25. Today it was expands to ages 26 and up. The estimated coat will be $3.1 billion per year as California heads to a record budget deficit this year under Newsom of negative $68 billion. Advocates for public health say it will benefit California in the long run. The move comes as Newsom’s Democratic Party leadership, President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris’ administration has been cracking down on immigrants at the border. Over 300,000 women and children were detained by the Biden administration in December alone as former President Trump’s border wall proves to be the waste of money it was expected to be.
Meanwhile a caravan of 10,000 refugees has been marching from Guatemala via Mexico to escape the violence, poverty, and destabilization that the federal government has cause under the Republican administration of Ronald Reagan and George Bush along with Democrats Bill Clinton and Barack Obama. They are seeking refuge in land that was taken from Mexico by the United States with the Mexican American War.
The DHCS released the following statement:
“Beginning January 1, 2024, a new law in California will allow adults ages 26 through 49 to qualify for full-scope Medi-Cal, regardless of immigration status. All other Medi-Cal eligibility rules, including income limits, will still apply.
This initiative, called the Ages 26 through 49 Adult Expansion, is modeled after the Young Adult Expansion, which provided full scope Medi-Cal to young adults 19 through 25, and the Older Adult Expansion, which provided full scope Medi-Cal to adults 50 years of age or older.“
