Children of illegals in California will receive medical care

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From May, illegal immigrants under the age of 19 years living in California will begin to receive free medical care through the Medi-Cal insurance program, which is valid for low-income residents.

Authorities estimate the program will affect more than 170 thousands of children. In total, about a quarter of all illegal immigrants living in California are trapped in the United States.

It has been reported that for two years after the introduction of Obamacare in the US, California lawmakers tried to help a group of state residents who were outside the program.

At the same time, California is not the first state to decide to help children of illegal immigrants. Similar programs operate in Massachusetts, Illinois, New York and Washington, as well as in the capital, Washington, DC.

According to experts, it is much more difficult to provide health insurance for adult illegal immigrants, which may be a significant test for the desire of the California authorities to provide additional opportunities for this group of citizens.

In order to be able to insure children, California Governor Jerry Brown allocated $ 20 million from the state budget for the program from May to December 2016 at the last moment. According to Medi-Cal spokesman Tony Kawa, payments in the 2017 fiscal year will be $ 143 million.

The state pays for the program entirely, since the Health Care and Patient Protection Act, more commonly known as Obamacare, also prohibits co-financing of programs that provide insurance for illegal immigrants.

However, part of the youth and before that received insurance payments for some programs in various districts. For example, under the program My Health LA in Los Angeles County.

To be eligible to apply for child support, a family must earn less than $53,6 for a family of three or $75,6 for a family of up to five.

Despite the upcoming changes, researchers at Berkeley University estimate that about one and a half million people from 2,7 million illegal immigrants in the state will be without insurance until 2019.

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