Sacramento Bee (California)
By Alexei Koseff
June 2, 2015
A
proposal to expand health care to Californians in the country illegally
cleared the Senate on Tuesday, passing on a 28-11 vote and heading to
the Assembly.
Senate
Bill 4 would allow undocumented immigrants to purchase health insurance
on the state exchange, pending a federal waiver, and enroll eligible
children under the
age of 19 in Medi-Cal, the state’s insurance program for the poor. A
capped number of undocumented adults would also be allowed participate,
if additional funding is appropriated in the state budget.
“We
are talking about our friends, we are talking about our neighbors and
our families who are denied basic health care in the richest state of
this union,” said Sen.
Ricardo Lara, D-Bell Gardens, the measure’s author. “Ensuring that
every child in California grows up healthy and with an opportunity to
thrive and succeed is simply the right thing to do.”
Debate
got increasingly feisty as it turned into a discussion of stalled
immigration reform efforts in Congress. Sen. Isadore Hall, D-Los
Angeles, baited his Republican
colleagues to support SB 4, calling their “excuses” not to support the
measure “tools of the weak and incompetent.”
Republican
Sens. Andy Vidak of Hanford and Anthony Cannella of Ceres, who both
represent swing agricultural districts, joined Democrats in voting yes
on the bill.
The
bill aims to expand the scope of the federal Affordable Care Act, which
prohibited undocumented immigrants from participating in any of the
health insurance exchanges
it established. Under SB 4, California would also be required to apply
for a federal waiver to allow individuals to buy plans on the exchange
regardless of immigration status, though those who are not citizens
would not be eligible for assistance to pay for
the coverage.
Lara
scaled back the bill last week to help it get past the Senate
Appropriations Committee, where a similar proposal was held last year.
SB
4 still faces a challenging road in the Assembly, and should it make to
Gov. Jerry Brown’s desk, a signature is not guaranteed. Brown has
expressed skepticism over
the bill because of its high cost, estimated to be as much as $135
million annually.
For more information, go to: www.beverlyhillsimmigrationlaw.com
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