California Will Be First State Offering Free Health Care to Illegal Aliens

California will become the first state to offer free health care to illegal aliens, following a budget deal by Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) and Democrats in the legislature that will cover Medi-Cal for all residents, regardless of immigration status.

The Sacramento Bee reported on the expansion of the state’s Medicaid program, which will cost an additional $2.6 billon:

Gov. Gavin Newsom late Sunday announced a budget deal he struck with the Legislature included a new Medi-Cal expansion that would cover more undocumented adults.

The program’s launch, starting no later than Jan. 1, 2024, is expected to provide full coverage for approximately 700,000 undocumented residents ages 26-49 and lead to the largest drop in the rate of uninsured Californians in a decade.

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The state already allows many undocumented residents to join Medi-Cal. In 2015, California began allowing undocumented children to join Medi-Cal. Four years later, eligibility broadened to those younger than 26. And in May, the state started covering people aged 50 and over.

The headline policy announcement of the budget deal was an agreement to send relief checks of up to $1,050 to residents to help them deal with the rising price of fuel and inflation in general. Economists now warn that could make inflation worse.

During the 2020 presidential campaign, almost every Democratic Party candidate promised to make health care free for illegal aliens, dismissing concerns that it would create a further incentive for migrants to come to the U.S. unlawfully.

Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News and the host of Breitbart News Sunday on Sirius XM Patriot on Sunday evenings from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. ET (4 p.m. to 7 p.m. PT). He is the author of the recent e-book, Neither Free nor Fair: The 2020 U.S. Presidential Election. His recent book, RED NOVEMBER, tells the story of the 2020 Democratic presidential primary from a conservative perspective. He is a winner of the 2018 Robert Novak Journalism Alumni Fellowship. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.