California is the first state to offer free healthcare for illegal migrants but will cost taxpayers an estimated $3.1billion per year.
Regardless of whether patients have any documentation, migrants aged between 26 and 49 will be eligible for full coverage under Medi-Cal, California's Medicaid program from January 1.
The free care will cover an additional 700,000 undocumented immigrants and comes as 1.5 million are crossing the southern border every year.
Old laws stated that undocumented immigrants could only receive health insurance under Medi-Cal if there was an emergency or pregnancy related issue.
California is the first state to offer free healthcare for illegal migrants and will cost taxpayers an estimated $3.1 billion per year
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It has been reported that the expansion will eventually cost the state about $3.1billion per year.
The new scheme has received backlash from Republican chiefs who say that the state's Medicaid programme is "already strained by serving 14.6 million Californians – more than a third of the state's population.
"Adding 764,000 more individuals to the system will certainly exacerbate current provider access problems."
However, Democratic Governor Gavin Newsom hit back at the criticism.
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He told ABC News that, "in California, we believe everyone deserves access to quality, affordable health care coverage – regardless of income or immigration status."
Newsom added: "Through this expansion, we're making sure families and communities across California are healthier, stronger, and able to get the care they need when they need it."
Former governor, Jerry Brown previously signed a bill in 2015, which only allowed undocumented children to join Medi-Cal as long as they met eligibility requirements, including income limits and California residency in 2014.
In 2019, the eligibility increased to include those younger than 26 and people aged 50 and over.
The new scheme has received backlash by Republican chiefs who say that the state's Medicaid programme is 'already strained by serving 14.6 million Californians – more than a third of the state's population'
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Sarah Dar, director of Health and Public Benefits Policy at the California Immigrant Policy Center said the "budget investment reflects California's values of inclusion and fairness and should be a model for the rest of the nation.
"All Californians, regardless of their age or where they were born, should have access to basic necessities like food and fair, steady wages."
The latest data from 2021, revealed that the undocumented population across the US was 10.5 million and of that number 1.85 million, were in California.
