California Governor Newsom confirmed that his universal healthcare plan will cover including illegal immigrants.
According to Just the News:
Gov. Gavin Newsom unveiled a plan to expand Medi-Cal coverage to many income-eligible residents regardless of immigration status on Monday as part of his 2022-2023 budget proposal. The plan, which Newsom hopes to see implemented in January 2024, would expand Medi-Cal eligibility to all income-eligible adults between 26 and 49 years old regardless of immigration status. The proposal would also close a gap in healthcare coverage for undocumented immigrants, who the state already covers up to age 26 and after age 50.
“California is poised to be – if this proposal is supported – the first state in the country to achieve universal access to health coverage,” the governor said. “That means full-scope Medi-Cal, including long-term care, IHSS (In Home Supportive Services) and behavioral health to all low-income Californians, regardless of immigration status.”
To be eligible for Medi-Cal in 2024, Californians aged 26 and older must meet the same eligibility standards, 138% of the poverty level. For an individual Californian, that equates to annual earnings of $17,609.
The program is part of Newsom’s $286.4 billion budget proposal, which he’s advertising as including a $45.7 billion surplus, but he’s keeping quiet on the tax portion of the equation.
A proposed assembly constitutional amendment titled “Taxes to fund health care coverage and cost control” would “increase the top marginal income-tax rate to 18.05 percent. That’s 7.05 percentage points higher than Hawaii, the next highest state, and 12.75 percentage points higher than the national median. It would increase taxes by an average of $12,250 per household. All told, the new tax package is intended to raise an additional $163 billion per year, which is more than California raised in total tax revenue any year prior to the pandemic.” The amendment would also implement a payroll tax with the top rate applying to those making only $49,990 a year.
Unsurprisingly, California has been among the top states residents can’t leave fast enough. Only New Jersey, Illinois, New York, and Connecticut, all of which are blue states with Democrat governors and state legislatures, saw more people flee last year.
Matt Palumbo is the author of The Man Behind the Curtain: Inside the Secret Network of George Soros
