California is the first state to offer universal health insurance to all illegal immigrants, regardless of whether they are documented.
As of Jan. 1, taxpayers will now be forced to spend thousands on medical care for an additional 700,000 undocumented immigrants — ages 26 to 49 — who are eligible for full coverage through Medi-Cal, California's Medicaid program.
More than 1.5 million people flow across the southern border every year, many of them seeking protection in the Democratic-run “sanctuary cities” of California.
Previously, undocumented immigrants were not eligible for health insurance under Medi-Cal unless there was an emergency or pregnancy-related issue.
Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom and lawmakers agreed in 2022 to allow all low-income adults, regardless of immigration status, access to health care through the state's Medicaid program, known as Medi-Cal.
The expansion will ultimately cost the state about $3.1 billion per year, the Associated Press reported.
The move was criticized by the California Senate Republican Caucus, which said the state's Medicaid program was “already overwhelmed by serving 14.6 million Californians – more than a third of the state's population.” Adding an additional 764,000 people to the system will certainly exacerbate providers’ current access issues.”
But Newsom's office told ABC News in part that “in California, we believe everyone deserves access to quality, affordable health care — regardless of income or immigration status.”
Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom signed hundreds of new laws that took effect Jan. 1, including a law granting health benefits to all undocumented immigrants in the state of California
More than two million undocumented immigrants live in California
In 2023, more than 500,000 people illegally crossed the border into California, according to U.S. Customs and Border Protection data and preliminary escape data exclusively obtained by The Center Square
The Public Policy Institute of California defines “undocumented” immigrants, also known as illegal or unauthorized immigrants, a population that is not directly identified in any representative national or state survey.
Newsom said, “Through this expansion, we are ensuring families and communities across California are healthier, stronger, and receive the care they need, when they need it.”
Earlier this year, State Senator Maria Elena Durazo said opening Medi-Cal to all undocumented Californians has been a goal of health and immigration advocates for years and praised the news.
She said, “This historic investment underscores California’s commitment to health care as a human right.”
Before Newsom became governor, then-Governor Jerry Brown signed a bill in 2015 that allowed only undocumented children to enroll in Medi-Cal as long as they met eligibility requirements, including income limits and California residency in 2014.
In 2019, Newsom signed a law making it eligible for people under 26, and in May California began providing coverage to people 50 and older.
The state senator's office says Californians are eligible for Medi-Cal coverage based on their income. This year's income cap for a family of four is $36,156.
Medi-Cal is also available to people with certain medical conditions, as well as people who are pregnant, blind, disabled, people under 21 who live in a nursing home, or are recent refugees.
Sarah Dar, director of health and community policy at the California Immigrant Policy Center, said the “budget investment reflects California's values of inclusion and equity and should be a model for the rest of the nation.”
“All Californians, regardless of their age or place of birth, should have access to basic necessities like food and fair, stable wages,” Dar said.
Undocumented residents remain the largest uninsured group in California, according to a recent analysis from the Center for Labor Research and Education at the University of California, Berkeley.
According to a Pew Research Center study, California still has the largest population of undocumented immigrants in America, Axios San Francisco reported.
According to the most recent data from 2021, there are 10.5 million undocumented people, of which 1.85 million, about five percent of the total population, lived in California.
In 2023, more than 500,000 people illegally crossed the border into California, according to U.S. Customs and Border Protection data and preliminary escape data exclusively obtained by The Center Square.
That number is up from nearly 302,000 in fiscal year 2022, according to the news outlet.