The state Senate has approved a plan that would give illegal immigrants the ability to buy health insurance via Covered California.
The plan, from state Sen. Ricardo Lara, left, was scaled back to require Medi-Cal benefits for those qualified under the age of 19. Undocumented adults’ participation in Medi-Cal would be permitted only if state funding exists, via capped enrollments.
The Covered California plan requires a federal waiver, as the Affordable Care Act specifically excludes those in the country illegally. This “innovation waiver” would seek to allow the Covered California enrollments for those 19 and older, but without various subsidies available to Californians.
Senate Bill 4 now heads to the Assembly, where it is likely to find success. The Senate vote was 28-11.
Supporters of Lara’s plan have cited “painful and hurtful cuts” made in California’s public health services in recent years. Lara, whose parents were once illegal aliens, cited $2.7 billion in annual tax revenues from immigrants in California.
“Ensuring that every child in California grows up healthy and with an opportunity to thrive and succeed is simply the right thing to do,” Lara said in response to the Senate vote.
Lara’s SB 1005 was held in committee last session over concerns about paying for the expansion of services offered by Covered California, the Obamacare operation in state.
“The advancement of this bill marks the first time any legislative body in the United States approves a measure to expand access to health care for their respective undocumented population,” Lara’s camp said. It noted that two Republican Senators voted in support.
Anthony Wright, executive director of the consumer group Health Access California, said the vote “shows the next step for both health reform and immigrant-inclusion movements.
“Immigrants are a critical part of California’s economy and society, and it’s more efficient and equitable for them to be fully included in our health system as well,” Wright said.
Reshma Shamasunder of the California Immigrant Policy Center called on Gov. Jerry Brown to “fortify the pro-immigrant legacy he has been building in recent years” and “invest real dollars in measures like SB 4.”
Brown’s support for the illegal immigrant health care plan is not a given, however.
A majority of the state’s voters support extending current health insurance programs to undocumented immigrants, according to a recent California Endowment poll.
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