Chabria: Newsom isn’t backing down on health care for immigrants despite threats

One of the several traits that set California apart from other states is the way undocumented immigrants are woven into our communities Their economic impact is obvious and the Golden State would be hard-pressed to keep our status as a world-competing financial power without their labor But greater part Californians know and are OK with the reality that at least particular of our neighbors our kids classmates our co-workers are without legal documents or in blended-status families Gov Gavin Newsom took a stand Wednesday for those undocumented Californians that seems to have gone largely unnoticed but which possibly will be a big fight in Congress and courts In his bad news-filled budget presentation Newsom committed to keeping state-funded wellness insurance for undocumented residents with cuts deep ones which I ll get to Although particular are disappointed by his rollbacks multiple of which will hit citizens and noncitizens alike standing by California s expansion to cover all low income people is a comment of values We ve provided more endorsement than any state in American history and we ll continue to provide more promotion than any state in American history he mentioned Sticking with that promise is going to be tough and likely costly Federal pressure growing This decision comes as Congress considers a Trump-led budget bill that would severely penalize states there are of them that continue to provide wellbeing insurance to undocumented immigrants California of unit has the largest number of such folks on its Medi-Cal plan and would be the hardest hit if that penalty does indeed become the new law to the tune of billion over six years according to the Center on Budget and Framework Priorities To put that in perspective the governor is now estimating a nearly -billion budget shortfall this year That federal cut would add at least billion a year to our costs once it hits That federal cut Newsom announced was not anticipated in this budget which means we are ignoring it for the time being Federal programs aren t open to noncitizens and no federal dollars are used to patronage California s expansion of fitness care to undocumented people But Congress is threatening an approximately cut in reimbursements to states that insure undocumented people via the Medicaid expansion that was part of the Affordable Care Act That expansion allows millions of Americans to have access to wellness care Those expansion funds are working in techniques that countless don t know about For example as Newsom pointed out behavioral wellbeing teams doing outreach to homeless people are funded by Medicaid dollars In all about one-third of Californians rely on Medi-Cal including millions of children so this threat to cut federal funds is not an empty one especially in a lean year Katherine Hempstead a senior protocol advisor for the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation which advocates for universal fitness care explained that the bill being debated by Congress is so full of cuts to robustness care that arguing against the provision penalizing coverage for undocumented people may not be a priority for largest part Democrats making it more likely that the cut will get through I don t know if this is going to be a do-or-die issue she declared And indeed the pressure by Republicans to kill off coverage entirely for undocumented folks was quick Gov Newsom has only partially repealed his disastrous guidelines Rep Kevin Kiley R-Rocklin announced in a announcement It demands to be reversed entirely or Californians will continue to spend billions on coverage for illegal immigrants and our state will lose an even larger amount in federal Medicaid funding Newsom has given economic reasons for sticking with the state s coverage for all low-income residents regardless of status When people don t have access to routine care they end up in urgency rooms and that is extremely expensive And also Medicaid has to cover that urgency care so taxpayers often end up spending more in the long run by skimping on upfront care It s definitely fundamental to the people that get the coverage because they don t really have an alternative Hempstead mentioned But that care has been vastly more expensive than California expected also to the tune of billions of dollars in unexpected costs in part because so multiple people have signed up To the dismay of plenty of Newsom s budget reflects both contemporary economic woes a -billion revenue hit caused by what he s dubbing the Trump slump as well as the state vastly underestimating the cost of covering those undocumented folks That shortfall may force cuts in the coverage that undocumented people qualify for if the Legislature goes along with Newsom s plan or even parts of it Greater part notably it would cap enrollment for undocumented adults age and over in effectively closing the initiative to new participants That s a huge hurt His plan also calls for adding a per month premium and other cuts such as ending coverage for the extremely popular and expensive GLP- weight loss drugs for all participants I don t want to be in this position but we are in this position Newsom declared Amanda McAllister-Wallner executive director of Medical Access California called those cuts reckless and unconscionable in a declaration This is a betrayal of the governor s commitment to California immigrants and an abandonment of his legacy which brought California so close to universal physical condition care she announced No easy decisions left I strongly believe in universal single-payer wellness care basically opening up Medicare to everyone so I don t disagree with McAllister-Wallner s point In better days I would hope to see enrollment reopen and benefits restored But also we re broke This is going to be a year of painful choices for all involved Related Articles Walters California will face increased tax-increase pressures as Newsom departs Opinion How other states are protecting their core services amid budget cuts Palo Alto reviews proposed billion budget Walters When California politicians ignore framework risks failure often results Walters California s commercial sector was already sluggish before Trump s global tariffs Which makes Newsom s and California s commitment to keep insurance for undocumented people notable The state could back down under this real federal pressure and could try to find a way to claw back the benefits we have already given But there s a moral component to providing medical care to our undocumented residents who are such a valuable and vital part of our state Although the fiscal realities are ugly it s worth remembering that in providing the coverage California is sticking with particular of its bulk vulnerable residents at a time when it would be easier to cut and run Anita Chabria is a Los Angeles Times columnist Los Angeles Times Distributed by Tribune Content Agency