Breaking News

More () »

Health

California budget boosts health care for older immigrants

The new coverage will eventually cost $1.3 billion per year.

Credit: AP

FILE - In this March 25, 2010, Dr. Carlos Ruvalcaba, left, examines patient Paula Medrano, an undocumented immigrant, at the Clinica Sierra Vista Elm unit in Fresno, Calif. As part of the new state operating budget that Gov. Gavin Newsom and state legislative leaders unveiled Friday, June 25, 2021, California will soon pay the health care bills for low-income people 50 and older who are living in the country illegally, part of an expansion of Medicaid that aims to inch the nation's most populous state toward Democrats' goal of making sure everyone has health insurance. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez, File)

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — California will soon pay the health care bills for low-income people 50 and older living in the country illegally.

The expansion of eligibility for the state's Medicaid program is part of a budget agreement between Gov. Gavin Newsom and the state's top two legislative leaders. The new coverage will eventually cost $1.3 billion per year.

Newsom and lawmakers also agreed to make more older people eligible for Medicaid by eliminating an asset test that advocates say discouraged savings.

Lawmakers are scheduled to vote on the budget proposal on Monday. Negotiations are continuing on other parts of the budget.

Click here for the full story from the Associated Press.

ABC10: Watch, Download, Read

1 / 9

abc10

WATCH ALSO FROM ABC10: Eviction Moratorium extension granted, community members and others say it's not enough

The eviction moratorium was extended, but the California Apartment Association and community members say that it's not enough and more needs to be done.