EXTENDING state-subsidized healthcare coverage to undocumented immigrants could cost the state of California as much as $740 million annually, according to a Senate fiscal analysis released Monday, May 4.
If passed, Senate Bill 4, authored by Sen. Ricardo Lara (D-Bell Gardens) and introduced last December, would allow more than a million low-paid undocumented immigrants to qualify for Medi-Cal, the state’s health program for lower-income individuals and families.
In California, about 1.8 million undocumented immigrants lack healthcare coverage. Of that number, 1.5 million of them would qualify for Medi-Cal, according to research from UC Berkeley and UCLA resource centers.
Under the status quo, the increase in Medi-Cal spending would range from $280 million to $740 million annually, depending on whether President Barack Obama’s executive order granting temporary relief from deportation to nearly 5 million immigrants—currently on hold due to a court injunction—takes effect. The report also estimates that between 50-60% of eligible immigrants for Medi-Cal would enroll in the healthcare program if they could.
If the executive order is unblocked and eventually upheld in court, about 900,000 of California’s undocumented would qualify for Medi-Cal even without Senator Lara’s bill, the fiscal analysis says.
In February, legislative analysts warned that the fiscal impact of President Obama’s action is still “highly uncertain.”
The report also said the cost of providing coverage to those affected by the executive order would “not be attributable” to SB 4. It pegged the price of covering the remaining people in the country illegally at a range between $175 million and $455 million.
In addition to expanding Medi-Cal to undocumented immigrants, SB 4 would also allow illegal immigrants with higher income levels to use their own money to buy an unsubsidized private health plan through Covered California. Unlike traditional Medi-Cal costs, which are split between the state and federal government, California would be on the hook for the entire tab. The state would also need a waiver from the federal government to allow it to sell private plans on the exchange to illegal immigrants.
Supporters of the bill seem confident that it will become law.
“Californians have shown themselves to be very supportive of the immigrant community,” said Reshma Shamasunder, executive director of the California Immigrant Policy Center, a nonprofit group that advocates pro-immigrant policies.
Examples of this support, she cites, include a California law offering in-state tuition to undocumented immigrants, as well as AB60, which allows them to apply for driver’s licenses.
Shamasunder calls the bill a “modest investment for a huge return,” noting that one study estimates it would cost pennies on each dollar that the state spends on Medi-Cal, which now covers nearly 1 in 3 Californians.
Critics, on the other hand, say the bill places another burden on taxpayers already overwhelmed by the costs of illegal immigration.
“We’ve got a lot of problems to solve—some are overwhelming, like the drought,” said Joe Guzzardi, a spokesman for Californians for Population Stabilization in Santa Barbara. “More legislation for immigrants would just put more strain on the state.
At the Institute of Governmental Studies at UC Berkeley, political science professor Jack Citrin is skeptical about the bill’s chances.
“Even if the Legislature passes it,” he said, “the bill stands a good chance of being vetoed by the governor, who is not particularly sympathetic to adding permanent costs to the state budget.”
In a statement, Sen. Lara said that Monday’s report analysis reflects “our ongoing efforts to develop a realistic, cost-effective solution in our pursuit of expanding healthcare for all Californians, regardless of immigration status.” (Allyson Escobar/AJPress with reports from Los Angeles Times, San Jose Mercury News)
