Will California Reinstate Medi-Cal for the Undocumented?

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Only two Democratic lawmakers voted against Gov. Gavin Newsom’s budget proposal last year that would have limited health care to undocumented immigrants. Senator Maria Elena Durazo was one of them.

Now Durazo, a Democrat from Los Angeles, is proposing legislation that would reverse many of these cuts to immigrant health care and restore Medi-Cal eligibility to all income-eligible citizens, regardless of citizenship.

Senate Bill 1422 will ensure that all immigrant adults over the age of 19 can enroll in Medi-Cal. It would not change the dental benefit limits included in last year’s state budget, nor would it remove the $30 monthly premium required for the same population from July 2027. Last year’s state budget did not cut benefits for children without legal status.

“As a community, we are no healthier than the people with the least access to health care. When we accept a two-tiered health care system, we are asking for trouble,” Durazo said Monday.

Durazo argued that immigrants without legal status bring in billions of dollars in taxes each year, and many are no longer able to benefit from the programs funded by those dollars. The state spends about $12 billion a year on immigrant health care.

Shrinking budget, growing struggle

It’s unclear whether Newsom would sign such a measure, but it seems unlikely. Dealing with a deficit For the fourth year in a row, even with rising revenue, Newsom has already proposed cuts to other programs. Marissa Saldivar, a spokeswoman for the governor, said her office would not comment on Durazo’s legislation.

His January budget proposal made few changes to the state’s Medi-Cal program, which serves more than 14 million Californians, but highlighted current fiscal challenges. A big threat comes from President Donald Trump’s federal tax reform package, which imposed new limits on provider taxes that nearly all states use to fund their low-income health care programs. California’s tax on health insurers is particularly high, generating about $7 billion a year for the general fund, a figure that the state finance department estimates it will be reduced to about $6 million next year.

Medi-Cal spending nearly doubled to $200 billion during Newsom’s two terms, worsening the state’s structural deficit, according to Office of the Legislative Analyst, non-partisan entity. That amount includes approximately $119 billion in federal funds.

Both Democrats and Republicans have criticized Newsom’s leadership on health care for undocumented immigrants. Republicans attribute the increase in program costs the gradual expansion of Medi-Cal eligibility for immigrants. Democrats are outraged by his partial cuts, and some reject his latest budget proposal, which they say would unnecessarily extend some federal cuts to Medicaid.

Rep. Mia Bonta, D-Oakland, introduced a bill that would prohibit the state from imposing federal work requirements for enrollees whose health care is financed solely by government funds, a group that includes immigrants without legal status. State officials estimate that the work requirements will cause an estimated 2 million Californians to lose their Medi-Cal coverage, mainly because of administrative hurdles.

The fight over health care costs has become one of the defining issues ahead of this fall’s election.

The state’s largest health care workers’ union is demanding a multi-million tax to raise funds for medical care, a measure that has sparked opposition among Silicon Valley’s wealthy elite and divided state Democrats . Meanwhile, party leaders are also trying to unseat several vulnerable Republicans in Congress, including of Congressman David Valadao, whose Central Valley district has the highest share of Medicaid recipients of the country.

Supported by the California Health Care Foundation (CHCF), which works to ensure people have access to the care they need, when they need it, at an affordable cost. Visit www.chcf.org for more information.