California is slated to approve a plan this week to expand health coverage to
low-income, undocumented immigrants over 50
, after Governor Gavin Newsom and state Congress reached an agreement last Friday.
It will become the first state to extend health coverage to all of its low-income residents, regardless of their immigration status.
California is the state with the largest number of undocumented population in
the country, with about two million people.
[The COVID-19 pandemic brings the number of Medicaid recipients to more than 80 million]
The state government already expanded coverage to undocumented children in 2016 and, in 2020, to young people up to 26 years of age.
The new plan
would take effect in 2022 and would cost
the state budget
$ 1.3 billion
.
In a first version of the plan, Newsom planned to include this coverage for undocumented persons over 65 in last year's budget.
However, it removed the proposal citing an anticipated budget deficit due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Last May he reintroduced the proposal into his budget plan, lowering the age limit to 60 years, and finally, to 50 years.
Medicaid patient Thomas Crippen reviews paperwork after being treated by nurse Amy Quinone at Denver Health's Adult Urgent Care Clinic, Colorado, in a file image.Craig F. Walker / The Denver Post via Getty Images
Activists for immigrant advocates and members of the California Latino Legislative Caucus
have fought for years to make this initiative a reality
.
"California has taken the lead in integrating undocumented immigrants into mainstream society at a time when the federal government has been at a standstill regarding the passage of comprehensive immigration reform," said Paulette Cha, researcher at the California Public Policy Institute, in statements collected by
The Sacramento Bee
newspaper
.
Isabel, 77, who asked not to mention her last name because she is an undocumented immigrant, said she was relieved by the resolution.
This former Mexican agricultural worker, who lives in the city of Perris, explained that her immigration status has often been a barrier to seeking health care.
"Now you can go to the doctor,
" he told the aforementioned newspaper in Spanish, "there are many people who need this, not just me."
