California to Become First State to Offer Health Coverage to All Undocumented Immigrants

In a long sought victory for health care and immigration activists, California will become the first state to offer all undocumented immigrants.

The Associated Press reports Gov. Gavin Newsom on Thursday signed a $307.9 billion operating budget, a move that will provide coverage for an additional 764,000 people ages 26-49, and pledges to make low-income adults eligible for the state’s Medicaid program by 2024 regardless of their immigration status.

“This will represent the biggest expansion of coverage in the nation since the start of the Affordable Care Act in 2014,” said Anthony Wright, executive director of Health Access California, told the AP. “In California we recognize (that) everybody benefits when everyone is covered.”

State Sen. María Elena Durazo (D) reiterated Wright’s remarks in a statement on Twitter, saying that the state is now “one step closer to ending the outdated and discriminatory policy that prevents undocumented Californians from accessing affordable health care.” 

“This is a victory for the millions of undocumented Californians who contribute $3.7 billion in state and local taxes and over $40 billion in spending power to our economy ever year,” Durazo wrote.