Governor Gavin Newsom wants to cut benefits to California’s undocumented residents as part of an effort to trim the state’s budget deficit.
The New York Times reports that Newsom’s proposal would freeze new enrollments for undocumented migrants. It would also charge 100 dollars-a-month to those already enrolled in Medi-Cal starting next year. The program used to be free.
Nearly 15 million Californians are covered under Medi-Cal. Two million of those are undocumented.
Newsom had defended extending health care coverage to the undocumented as recently as March. But a spokesperson for the governor’s office told the San Francisco Chronicle the cost of the program was “unsustainable.”
