Offering state-subsidized healthcare coverage to people residing in the U.S. illegally could cost California up to $740 million per year, according to the L.A. Times.
A recent Senate fiscal analysis report estimates a price tag for the first time since Sen. Ricardo Lara (D-Bell Gardens) introduced the Health for All Act of 2015 last December. The bill aims to expand access to healthcare coverage for all Californians, regardless of immigration status, and is a part of the Senator's efforts to address the exclusion of undocumented Californian's from the state's healthcare exchanges.
According to the report, researched from U.C. Berkeley and UCLA estimate about 1.8 million people who are living in the U.S. illegally in California lack healthcare coverage, and roughly 1.5 million of them would qualify for Medi-Cal.
The Senate fiscal analysis estimates that under the status quo, the rise in Medi-Cal spending would range from $280 million to $740 million per year, and between 50 and 60 percent of eligible immigrants would enroll in Medi-Cal.
The report also estimated that about 900,000 immigrants in California would qualify for Medi-Cal if President Barack Obama's executive order offering deportation relief to illegal immigrants is upheld, and the price of covering this population would range between $175 million and $455 million. However, the Senate fiscal report said the cost of providing healthcare coverage to those individuals would "not be attributable" to Sen. Lara's bill, according to the report.