California Governor, Legislature Headed For Showdown Over Coverage For Undocumented Immigrants
California lawmakers want to expand coverage to everyone in the state, regardless of immigration status, but Gov. Gavin Newsom (D-Calif.) says that expanding Medi-Cal to all adults over 25, who typically have higher health care costs than the young, could be financially unsustainable. The disagreement between the governor and Assembly members from his party is a rare one.
The Wall Street Journal:
California Democrats Face Off Over Health Care For Illegal Immigrants
California lawmakers are headed for a showdown over how many illegal immigrants should qualify for government-subsidized health care. Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom has proposed allowing unauthorized immigrants under 26 to enroll in Medi-Cal, the state’s Medicaid program. Some members of the legislature, which is dominated by Democrats, have proposed that low-income people of all ages be eligible, regardless of their immigration status. Both would be first-in-the-nation expansions and represent another step by California to enact economic and social policies in defiance of the Trump administration, including support for those in the country illegally. (Lazo, 5/21)
The Associated Press:
California Eyes Health Care For Immigrants In US Illegally
Lilian Serrano's mother-in-law had lots of stomach problems, but she always blamed food. Doctors at a San Diego-area clinic suspected Genoveva Angeles might have cancer, but they could not say for sure because they did not have the equipment to test for it and Angeles, who had been in the country illegally for 20 years, could not afford to see a specialist and did not qualify for state assistance because of her immigration status. (5/20)
Meanwhile —
California Healthline:
A Medical Sanctuary For Migrant Farmworkers
On the 15-mile drive between his two Central Valley medical clinics, Dr. J. Luis Bautista often passes armies of farmworkers stooped over in the fields, picking onions, melons and tomatoes. Most of the 30,000 annual office visits to his small staff of doctors and nurses in downtown Fresno and the nearby rural town of Sanger are by these farmworkers. Many of them are undocumented. (Glionna, 5/20)
