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(NATIONAL REVIEW) – Free health care for illegal immigrants — what could go wrong?
California taxpayers are about to find out. Starting January 1, the Golden State began offering Medicaid coverage to more than 700,000 illegal immigrants, the latest and by far the largest such program in the country. Yet other states have recognized that this new handout will see spiraling enrollment and mounting red ink. It’s Obamacare’s Medicaid expansion all over again — a massive entitlement that gouges taxpayers more with every passing year.
As is often the case, California is doing the bidding of the furthest-left activists in the Democratic Party. In 2015, the state gave free health care to low-income children who are illegal immigrants. That move was followed by expansions for young adults up to 25 and anyone 50 or older — all of which had put about 650,000 illegal immigrants on welfare. Now California is filling in the middle, covering low-income illegal immigrants between ages 26 and 49 under Medi-Cal, which is the state’s version of Medicaid. Consistent with Medicaid expansion, the illegal immigrants must earn less than 138 percent of the federal poverty level, although, unlike the previous entitlement, this one is paid for completely by state taxpayers, with no federal help.
Governor Gavin Newson has heralded this entitlement as “a transformative step,” which is certainly true when it comes to the state budget. Officials say it will cost $3.1 billion annually, adding nearly 10 percent to Medi-Cal’s $37 billion annual tab — already the second-largest line item in the budget. Yet the initial estimate is sure to be woefully low.
