California’s spending on healthcare for illegal aliens is creating a sea of red ink. California was already running a budget deficit in 2024-2025. But now, its budget deficit will get even worse, because the state’s decision to pay for illegal aliens’ healthcare is costing billions of dollars more than the state anticipated.
As John Sexton notes at Hot Air, “California Democrats continue spending money like drunken sailors on shore leave. Yesterday, Gov. Newsom signed a bill to cover a massive shortfall caused by the expansion of the state’s Medicaid service (known as Medi-Cal) to illegal immigrants.”
ABC 10 reports:
Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a bill Monday that plugs an unexpected budget gap to fund Medi-Cal through late June…
He…asked lawmakers to allocate an additional $2.8 billion dollars from the General Fund just to keep the program afloat through the end of June.
Lawmakers did that on Thursday by passing AB 100 – something called a ‘budget bill junior,’ which amends the current budget.
As Sexton observes, “Last year, the state estimated that expanding Medi-Cal to cover all illegal immigrants who fall below the income threshold would cost $6 billion for a year, but that figured has soared largely because about twice as many people signed up for the free medical care as the state expected. The state estimated that 700,000 migrants would sign up but the actual number is closer to 1.6 million. Shockingly, free stuff is popular. That created a big shortfall for this fiscal year which runs from July 2024 to June 2025. Last month, Gov. Newsome took out a massive loan to cover the costs.”
Sacramento’s Channel 3 reports:
Newsom’s administration told lawmakers in March that it took out a $3.44 billion loan, the maximum allowed under state law, from the general fund to make payments for March. The additional $2.8 billion in state funding will also unlock matching federal money to cover costs already committed through June.
State officials this month said the situation is “unsustainable” and told lawmakers the state is finding ways to cut costs next year.
Only “the combination of the $3.4 billion loan and the $2.8 billion addition to the budget Newsom signed yesterday will get the state through June,” notes Sexton. “California will then start next year’s budgeting process already $3.4 billion in the hole.”
ABC 10 explains:
As for Medi-Cal’s funding this next fiscal year – plus paying back that $3.4 billion general fund loan – Micheli said lawmakers will ramp up budget discussions in mid-May and are required to pass this coming fiscal year’s budget by June 15.
“That’s when they’ll determine how much more money is required for funding the Medi-Cal program through next June 30,” he said.
The cost seems likely to grow radically as illegal aliens pour into California to take advantage of free healthcare. Donald Trump has successfully closed the border with Mexico to most illegal immigrants, with border crossings hitting a record low in March.
But the illegal aliens already in the United States can still move to California to take advantage of its offer of free healthcare.
Sexton adds, “Newsom and other Democrats have already promised that health care for migrants will not be cut despite these massive cost overrums, but it’s hard to see how the state can continue to afford this. There are more than 1.6 million illegal immigrants in California. The exact number is unknown but could be 1 million higher that the number currently enrolled in Medi-Cal. What happens if they all sign up over the next year? Well, what happens is the budget goes up by several billion more dollars even as the state is trying to maintain a balanced budget next year after two years of [budget] shortfalls.”
“Sensing an opening, Republicans are hammering Newsom for the rising costs of providing Medi-Cal coverage to undocumented immigrants,” reports Cal Matters. “Democrats and the governor are picking priorities, and they’re prioritizing people that have come into our country illegally over people who immigrated here legally, people that are citizens,” said Senate Republican leader Brian Jones.
