Calif. Advances Plan To Allow Immigrants In U.S. Illegally Access To Exchange
The Senate bill directs the state to petition the government to allow individuals who are in the country illegally to purchase health care through Covered California under the Affordable Care Act. They would not be eligible for subsidies.
KQED:
California Assembly OKs Asking Feds To Allow Undocumented Immigrants Access To Covered California
The California Assembly approved a bill on Tuesday that would permit undocumented immigrants access to Covered California, the state’s health insurance marketplace. Under federal law undocumented immigrants are barred from any of the benefits of the Affordable Care Act. Senate Bill 10 would direct California to ask the federal government for a waiver that would permit undocumented immigrants the option to buy insurance on Covered California — with their own money. It passed by a vote of 54-19. (Aliferis, 5/31)
The Sacramento Bee:
California Nears Letting Undocumented Immigrants Buy Healthcare
Already at the forefront of enacting immigrant-friendly policies, California could become the first state permitting immigrants to use the insurance exchanges created by the new federal healthcare law. Senate Bill 10 would have California petition the federal government for the right to do so. Undocumented immigrants using the exchange would not be eligible for the public subsidies that extend to other lower-income shoppers. (White, 5/31)