Democratic California Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a state budget bill into law Tuesday that extends healthcare coverage to young illegal immigrants through Medicaid, making the state the first in the U.S. to do so.
The state budget covers 90,000 undocumented persons from the ages of 19-25 in the state and costs California taxpayers approximately $98 million in the coming fiscal year. The income of these persons must be low enough, as stated in the law, to qualify for the state-funded healthcare.
The law also creates an “individual mandate,” similar to the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act that President Barack Obama championed in 2010, requiring all Californians to purchase health insurance. The state will impose a fine on any individual who fails to purchase health insurance.
Prior to the bill’s signing into law, Newsom addressed California media, saying, “To my friends at Fox News, I know we’re keeping you in business.”
“Universal health care is a right regardless of immigration status … I’m going to get the rest of that done, mark my words, and make progress next year and the year after that.”
We’re fighting for healthcare for all. We’re demanding clean air and water. We’re defending reproductive freedom. And we’re protecting our vulnerable communities.
No matter what Trump’s Administration does. pic.twitter.com/6O8huWFJ2r
— Gavin Newsom (@GavinNewsom) July 10, 2019
The nonpartisan Legislative Analyst Office in California warned that the individual mandate imposed on Californians would increase the price of Medicaid. They claim if Californians signed up for health insurance, avoiding the penalty fine, the state would have less money to fund certain programs.
President Trump had critical words for the budget about a week-and-a-half ago, saying, “I think it’s very important — to find out if somebody is a citizen as opposed to an illegal? I think there’s a big difference, to me, between being a citizen of the United States and being an illegal. And, you know, the Democrats want to treat the illegals, with healthcare and with other things, better than they treat the citizens of our country.”
“If you look at what they’re doing in California, how they’re treating people, they don’t treat their people as well as they treat illegal immigrants. So, at what point does it stop? It’s crazy what they’re doing. It’s crazy. And it’s mean, and it’s very unfair to our citizens. And we’re going to stop it, but we may need an election to stop it, and we may need to get back the House,” he said.
