Photo: Heidi de Marco/KHN / EFE
On Sunday, May 1, California will open Medi-Cal to older undocumented immigrants living in the state.
Starting May 1, California will be the first state in the nation to expand Medi-Cal to all eligible adults 50+, regardless of immigration status.
We’re building upon our actions to make quality health care accessible to all Californians. https://t.co/su0kY2hvJd
—Office of the Governor of California (@CAgovernor) April 29, 2022
Undocumented immigrants older than 50 years who are below certain income thresholds will be eligible for full coverage from Medi-Cal, California’s version of Medicaid, the federal-state partnership that provides health insurance to low-income people.
The undocumented of all ages represent 04 % of the approximately 3.2 million residents of the state without health insurance. Official estimates place the number of newly eligible people at 235,000. Those who register will join the over 220,000 undocumented immigrants from 25 years or less already enrolled in Medi-Cal.
And if Gov. Gavin Newsom achieves his goal, which seems entirely possible considering the state’s rosy financial outlook, California could allow all remaining low-income undocumented immigrants, approximately 700, 000 people, join Medi-Cal for 2024 or before.
Medi-Cal has some well-known problems, but it is still much better than no insurance at all.
Under the law Currently, all undocumented immigrants who meet financial criteria can get coverage limited Medi-Cal, which includes emergency and pregnancy services and, in some cases, long-term care.
But when they sign up for full Medi-Cal, they get comprehensive health coverage which includes primary care, prescription drugs, mental health care, dental and vision care, eyeglasses and much more. It is no small thing for people who are painting gray hair.
“This is a key moment when you want to incorporate all these elderly undocumented immigrants to the health care system,” says Arturo Vargas Bustamante, professor of health policy and management at the UCLA Fielding School of Public Health. If you leave their chronic conditions unattended, he said, they will simply end up in the emergency room and it will be more expensive to treat them.
Vargas Bustamante calls it “a way responsible for investing”.
As the academic points out, it is no longer a question of immigrants coming to work temporarily in the United States and then returning to their countries of origin. They are staying, raising families and growing old in this country.
Undocumented immigrants play an important role in the labor force, paying approximately $3,.200 millions of dollars in state and local taxes per year in California and $11,700 million nationwide. No one benefits if they are too sick to work.
While it will take time to implement the new benefits, the task will be made easier by the fact that the vast majority of undocumented immigrants who will be eligible for full coverage are already enrolled in limited Medi-Cal benefits, so the state already has their information.
“We hope that people who are already enrolled in restricted Medi-Cal will immediately transition to full Medi-Cal,” said Ronald Coleman, managing director of policy for the California Pan-Ethnic Health Network, an organization nonprofit that promotes access to healthcare for communities of color. “The question is: Will they understand their benefits and know how to navigate the system?”
Those who are not enrolled in Restricted Medi-Cal may not be readily identifiable and, given the cultural and language barriers, it may be difficult to convince them.
The Department of Health Care Services, which administers Medi-Cal, is working with county officials, consumer advocates and the state health insurance marketplace, Covered California, to reach eligible immigrants.
The Department of Health Care Services and other resources are available to make known the new Medi-Cal benefits for older immigrants, including how to enroll and how to choose a health plan and provider.
Health Consumer Alliance (1200 804 8814 or http://www.healthconsumer.org) offers free consultations and has offices in the whole state. It also has a fact sheet, available in English, Spanish, Vietnamese, and many other languages, that explains the expansion of Medi-Cal for seniors. Provide contact information for enrollment either through the county welfare office, Covered California, or local community clinics.
By Bernard J. Wolfson
KHN (Kaiser Health News) is the newsroom of KFF (Kaiser Family Foundation), which produces in-depth journalism on Health. It is one of the three main programs of KFF, a non-profit organization that analyzes the nation’s health problems.
It may interest you:
– How to find out what medical services are covered by Medi-Cal
– Medi-Cal 2022: what is the minimum income you must have to apply– Undocumented immigrants older than 50 years old can now sign up for free medical service in Los Angeles