Thread: Supreme Court decision deals blow to health coverage efforts in California

Supreme Court decision deals blow to health coverage efforts in California


Sujey Becerra, 39, with her two sons at a wellness and nutrition class at Todec Legal Center in Perris, California, in May 2015. Becerra is an
undocumented immigrant without health insurance and depends on county-run health programs. (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times)


June 23, 2016
By Soumya Karlamangla

The Supreme Court decision Thursday effectively blocking President Obama’s immigration programs also comes as a blow to California legislators who have been fighting to offer health insurance to people living in the country illegally.

Immigrants living in the U.S. without authorization can’t enroll in Obamacare and make up a large portion of those who remain uninsured in California. But an unusual state policy allows those granted temporary relief from deportation to sign up for Medi-Cal, the state’s low-income health program.

If the court had upheld the deferred action programs, more than half a million unauthorized immigrants in California could have become eligible for state-funded health insurance, according to UC Berkeley and UCLA researchers.

Daniel Zingale, senior vice president of the nonprofit California Endowment, said he was disappointed that thousands would not be gaining health insurance, but said he was hopeful that the decision “will ultimately result in health justice for all."

In 2014, President Obama issued executive actions granting immunity from deportation to the parents of citizens and other legal residents and also expanding a similar immunity program for young immigrants brought to the U.S. illegally as children.

But new initiatives landed the case in the Supreme Court after dozens of states sued to stop them.

On Thursday, the highest court issued a 4-4 tie vote, leaving in place a lower court’s order in Texas that prevents the program from taking effect.

The deadlock also stalls what would have been a boon to efforts in California to provide health insurance to those here illegally.

California is one of a small number of states – along with New York and Massachusetts – that lets immigrants granted deferred action to sign up for their Medicaid programs.

If the program had gone forward, approximately 621,000 people – or 54% of the 1.15 million adults in the state who would have been eligible for deferred action – could have qualified for Medi-Cal based on their incomes, according to an analysis by researchers from the UC Berkeley Labor Center and the UCLA Center for Health Policy Research.

UC Berkeley researcher Miranda Dietz said the deferred action programs could have been “a really big deal for Californians.”

Without these programs, researchers estimate that as many as 1.5 million of the 2.67 million immigrants in the state illegally could remain uninsured by 2019 –​​​​​ roughly half of California's total uninsured population.

Antonio Campos, who lives in Sacramento, had been waiting for a verdict from the court. Campos, 50, came to the U.S. in 1995 and overstayed his visa.
He wanted a work permit and a chance to get health insurance for him and his wife Ramona.

For the last five years, Ramona has felt pain in her chest and experienced shortness of breath. Once it became so severe he took her to the emergency room and ended up paying $1,500.

But they still haven’t been able to fix the problem. The couple, who own a business cleaning houses, can’t afford to visit a doctor to diagnose her.

California legislators and advocates are searching for other ways to provide such immigrants health insurance.

In an early victory in that effort last year, Gov. Jerry Brown allocated funding to allow 170,000 undocumented kids sign up for Medi-Cal at an annual cost of about $143 million.

Earlier this month, he signed a bill making California the first state to ask federal officials to allow immigrants here illegally to buy insurance through its state health exchange, without providing them with subsidies.

http://www.latimes.com/local/califor...nap-story.html

Illegal aliens should not be given government funded health insurance anywhere in the US. They should be deported. What is wrong with you people in California who are trying to do this??!!

They should not be in government funded schools, should not be in our hospitals either! No driver's license! NOTHING!

Go to hospital in YOUR country.

In 2014, President Obama issued executive actions granting immunity from deportation to the parents of citizens and other legal residents and also expanding a similar immunity program for young immigrants brought to the U.S. illegally as children.

The DACA program is not affected by the court ruling - presented to the public as a sob story of children brought here illegally by an illegal parent, announced In 2014 as a 2yr reprieve from deportation. (The 2 yrs is up 2016 too plus they are a low priority as the priority decree came out this year too.

Later they divulge the slight of hand, qualify if under the age of 31, been here 5 yrs (counted as since 2007), entered before age 16, etc. THAT IS TOTALLY DIFFERENT THAN BEEN HERE 20 YRS BROUGHT BY A PARENT. Plus the amount made eligible for what started out as an innocent babe brought here jumped to a teenage sneaker, which is way more in numbers, can stay, work permits, given amnesty pretty much.

Do not know if that is considered an expansion & was ruled not allowed or not. EDIT -(just read in another post the expansion is halted with the ruling. T hat expansion would give amnesty to all young sneakers expanding DACA, and DAPA all the parents of US born illegals. These are out and out pre planned amnesties and gw was in on it too.)

I know O sent out congrats on the anniversary & success of his Dreamers decree - everybody getting a college degree etc. - I guess gratis.

O says they've been here for 20 yrs in the shadows, blah, blah. the Dreamers. But notice how his expansion includes every illegal under 31 been here since 2007 - that is a ton of illegals.

gw opened the border WIDE. - never saw a mexican up in the NE area till @2003 and they came in droves and for every year after that too. No jobs available for our youth, even union workers, because the illegals got all the restaurant back of the house jobs, landscaping, cheap construction, dirty mexican stores, sardine housing, urinating in the street, loud obnoxious music. Boom, boom the baby explosion all on the taxpayer - health insurance for mother and child, then the schooling. Caused a 4x property tax hike to finance the school costs burden. Can only imagine how it upset hospital & medicaid costs for each state beside the federal funding.

So now an American senior & our veterans cannot get a lot of tests, devices, - all you hear is "Medicare wont pay for that". Doctors do not want to take Medicare patients, our seniors & veterans denied decent care for these illegal overbreeders that are entitled to nothing except to be booted out - let alone healthcare, lawyers, child after child healthcare & for mother while the father pays NO child support.