California taxpayers will soon pay more in taxes to enroll more illegal immigrants in Medicaid, a plan that was part of a recently approved state budget. Younger illegal immigrants are already enrolled in Medicaid, SNAP and other federally funded programs.
The plan proposed by California Democrats guarantees that low-income illegal immigrants older than age 50 will receive health insurance. Coverage would take effect in 2022 and cost taxpayers $1.3 billion per year.
It follows a $213 billion taxpayer-funded plan proposed in 2019 to allow low-income illegal immigrants between the ages of 19 and 25 to enroll in Medicaid. Democrats then estimated that adding 90,000 people to Medicaid would cost taxpayers $98 million per year.
Adding illegal immigrants older than age 50 was the next step this year, they argued, which was included in the state's two-year budget proposal. Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom is expected to sign it Thursday, the beginning of the fiscal year.
