Give us your tired, your sick, your pregnant, your criminals…and we’ll give them housing, food stamps, free education, jobs and now…FREE healthcare!
Like many blue states, California enthusiastically embraced Obamacare, signing up millions for health insurance. Now, it’s venturing into a potentially costly and controversial new frontier of health policy: offering medical coverage to hundreds of thousands of people living in the country illegally.
In a matter of months, the number of California counties committed to providing low-cost, government-run medical care to such residents jumped from 11 to 48. And in June, Gov. Jerry Brown signed a state budget that for the first time funds healthcare for such children.
Key state legislators have vowed not to stop until all immigrants living in California illegally have coverage, a proposal that could cost the state more than $1 billion annually.
The effort has set California apart from most other states and the federal government, which barred those here illegally from signing up for insurance under the landmark Affordable Care Act, which overhauled the nation’s healthcare system.
“I’m sure we’ll inspire other states,” said UCLA health policy professor Steven Wallace. “I think it’s inevitable.”
For entire story: LA Times
