Health benefits under the Affordable Care Act are not open to migrants covered by President Barack Obama's two recent executive orders on immigration reform, but California and New York offer Medicaid coverage to those who gained legal status under the 2012 Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, with the states picking up the entire tab.
Now, migrant advocates want similar coverage extended to those affected by the president's
November 20 announcement ,which temporarily protects undocumented aliens who are the parents of United States citizens from deportation,
The Los Angeles Times reported.
Some would go further still.
Ricardo Lara, a California Democratic state senator, plans to introduce legislation in Sacramento to provide Medicaid healthcare coverage to all residents regardless of their legal status,
The Daily Caller reported.
Lara says Obama's executive order "still leaves over a million people with no access to healthcare," according to the Caller. His bill, Health4All, would provide blanket healthcare coverage to all state residents whatever their legal status.
"California has a long history of covering certain immigrant populations excluded from the federal program," said Anthony Wright of the Health Access advocacy group. "First, these people have to go through the process the president outlined and then they have to meet the income criteria," the Times reported.
With 2.6 million undocumented aliens, California has the largest illegal immigrant population in the country.
The state's Medicaid program already covers 11 million people and is expected to cost $17 billion 2014, according to the Caller.
New York is also poised to extend Medicaid coverage for up to 300,000 of its residents affected by Obama's latest immigration order,
Capital New York reported.
The federal government does reimburse hospitals that treat patients in the country illegally for emergency and maternity care, according to
The Christian Science Monitor.
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