The California State Senate voted to gift health care coverage to hundreds of thousands of illegal immigrants and to seek a federal waiver to sell private health insurance to illegal aliens.
Senators approved a bill that would allow between 195,000 and 240,000 children under 19 from low-income families to qualify for state-funded Medi-Cal, regardless of their legal status. It also would seek a federal waiver for California to sell unsubsidized private health insurance through the state’s health exchange, known as Covered California.
If passed and signed by Gov. Jerry Brown, limited enrollment for low-income immigrant adults 19 and older into Medi-Cal would be allowed depending on how much funding lawmakers approve in next year’s budget.
SB4 advanced to the Assembly on a bipartisan vote, 28-11.
Overburdened California taxpayers can expect to fork over millions more for illegal aliens even with the always lowball assumptions produced by politicians before a big spending vote.
A legislative analysis before additional amendments were made had estimated the cost to expand Medi-Cal to immigrant children regardless of their legal status would depend on the outcome of a legal challenge to Obama’s executive order.
It would cost up to $135 million a year without the president’s executive action and up to $83 million a year with the president’s action based on protection for 900,000 of the state’s 2.5 million immigrants without documentation.
Of course this analysis does not take into account the magnet created by having California taxpayers foot the bill for anyone who happens to break the law and wind up on California soil.
