SACRAMENTO, Calif. — California on Thursday became the first state to guarantee free health care for all low-income immigrants living in the country illegally, a move that will provide coverage for an additional 764,000 people at an eventual cost of about $2.7 billion a year.that pledges to make all low-income adults eligible for the state’s Medicaid program by 2024 regardless of their immigration status.
In California, Republicans and conservative groups have opposed expanding health care to immigrants living in the country illegally. Jon Coupal, president of the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association, said offering free health care will make California “a magnet for those who are not legally authorized to enter the country.”that pledges to make all low-income adults eligible for the state’s Medicaid program by 2024 regardless of their immigration status.
Hernandez lives in Merced in California’s Central Valley and works as an organizer with the California Immigrant Policy Center. She said her mother would benefit the most from the expansion, having never had health insurance since moving to the U.S.