California Expands Medi-Cal Coverage, Including Illegal Immigrants, Amid Cost Concerns

Hello, and welcome to Visual News. I'm Olivia Lane, and we bring you a significant development from California regarding the expansion of Medi-Cal coverage set to begin on January 1, 2024. The California Department of Health Care Services has announced that approximately 707,000 individuals aged 26 to 49 will become eligible for Medi-Cal coverage, marking another step in Gov. Gavin Newsom's ambitious $310.8 billion 2023–2024 budget.

This expansion, with an estimated cost of $1.2 billion, includes a substantial portion of illegal immigrants, continuing the state's trend of broadening healthcare access. Previously, coverage was extended to illegal immigrant children in 2016, individuals under 26 in 2020, and those over 50 in 2022. According to the University of California–Berkeley, nearly 1 million illegal immigrants in California will have access to Medi-Cal starting next year.

However, not all illegal immigrants will benefit from this expansion, as around 520,000 earn too much to qualify for Medi-Cal and lack employer coverage.

California stands alone nationally in offering free health care for low-income residents, irrespective of citizenship status, in contrast to federal programs like Medicaid, which exclude illegal immigrants.

Critics, including Jon Coupal, president of the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association, express concerns that such expansions could act as a magnet for increased illegal border crossings.