A bill pending in the California legislature would make the state the first to permit undocumented immigrants in the country to purchase health insurance through a state exchange.
State Senator Ricardo Lara (D-Bell Gardens) authored a bill—SB 10—that would have the state formally petition the federal government to let immigrants pay for health coverage through Covered California without cost to the state or federal government.
Nearly 390,000 immigrants who earn above Medi-Cal’s income ceiling would be able to purchase healthcare through the exchange should federal permission be granted, Lara remarked.
“This proposal affirms our commitment to embrace and integrate our immigrant community, to lead where the federal government has failed and to acknowledge the hard work and sacrifice of a community that contributes billions of dollars to our GDP,” the senator said in a statement.
We the People Rising, an activist group that has called for stricter enforcement of current immigration laws, criticized the bill.
“We oppose that [bill] because that encourages illegal immigration,” executive director Robin Havidston told the Los Angeles Times. “It sends a message to the world that if you come to our country you will be rewarded.”
The Affordable Care Act currently forbids undocumented immigrants from purchasing health plan coverage via the state exchanges, even if they can afford to pay for the full prices of the policies.
California Gov. Jerry Brown has yet to take a position on the bill.
Similar legislation has been approved in recent times.
On April 7, the Covered California board endorsed a plan to apply a waiver to allow undocumented immigrants to purchase health insurance with their own funds through the exchange.
Last year, the Legislature approved another bill led by Lara that extended public healthcare to approximately 170,000 immigrant children in the country illegally.
