California just made a historic move, passing legislation that will offer healthcare to all undocumented immigrants.
According to The Associated Press, Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a bill on Thursday (June 30), which includes a $307.9 billion operating budget and will provide coverage to an additional 764,000 people between the ages of 26 and 49. What this means is that the west coast state made a commitment to providing low-income adults with access to California’s Medicaid program by the year 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. “In California, we recognize (that) everybody benefits when everyone is covered.”
NEW: Just signed our budget. California will now be the first state in the nation to achieve universal access to healthcare coverage.
This is what being “pro-life” ACTUALLY looks like.
— Gavin Newsom (@GavinNewsom) July 1, 2022
State Sen. Maria Elena Durazo took to Twitter to praise the latest news, noting that the state is now “one step closer to ending the outdated and discriminatory policy that prevents undocumented Californians from accessing affordable health care.”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 every year,” she continued. “This is a victory for the advocates and organizers who have spent years working to make Heal for All a reality. It’s a victory for California as a whole. We will all be better off once every single Californian has access to healthcare.”
This budget is victory in the fight for Health for All which takes us one step closer to closing the uninsured gap in California. Thank you to all the organizers and advocates who’ve worked hard to make this a reality! #Health4All pic.twitter.com/uukOqHFoPk
— Senator María Elena Durazo (@SenMariaEDurazo) June 27, 2022
