Medi-Cal Gives 286K+ Illegal Aliens Free Healthcare

Over 286K illegal aliens residing in California have received taxpayer funded healthcare after an existing state healthcare program expanded access, according to a recent press release from Governor Newsom’s office.

Illegal aliens receive access to state healthcare via the Medi-Cal program. This state service was expanded back in May of this year, and now provides free healthcare to illegal aliens of a certain age. It’s available to all those living in the state who are 50+ years old, and your immigration status does not impact access.

In May of this year we wrote about this topic on our blog, and noted that it’s estimated this expansion will cost $1.3 billion dollars per year.

Back in May of 2021, we noted that Medi-Cal already covers all Californians regardless of immigration status until they’re 26. We pointed out back then that eventually there would be a push to extend healthcare coverage to all illegal aliens in the state.

The press release from Governor Newsom’s office, which was put out on 10/19/2022, explicitly stated the goal is universal healthcare coverage for all illegal aliens in the state.

“This latest expansion of Medi-Cal coverage brings California closer to Governor Newsom’s promise of universal access to health care coverage, regardless of age or immigration status.”

According to the press release, this expansion would provide healthcare access to 700K more illegal aliens.

“The next step in California’s commitment to a Healthy California for All is the expansion of full scope Medi-Cal coverage to an estimated 700,000-plus adults ages 26 through 49 who do not have a satisfactory immigration status for federally funded full scope Medi-Cal, effective January 1, 2024.”

As always, we won’t wade into the debate on healthcare policy. However, state resources should exist for legal, state residents.

This program also makes our state a long-term attraction for illegal aliens in the United States.

California is already overpopulated, and during a record breaking border crisis we shouldn’t be incentivizing more illegal aliens to come to our state.

Beyond that, in a state where over 100K people are homeless, we should be concerned about taking care of our fellow citizens before foreign nationals.

Policies like this show that California’s state government is deeply unserious about combatting illegal immigration, and also about the detrimental effects of overpopulation.